Nov 19, 2014 | Events, News
On 18 November, the ICJ presented and discussed, in a meeting at the European Parliament in Brussels, its two reports on special economic regimes and their impact on social rights in Peru and Morocco.
MEP Richard Howitt, Member of the Subcommittee on Human Rights at the Parliament, and ICJ Commissioner Olivier De Schutter led the discussions.
The reports highlight the impact on rights, including labour and social security, land and water rights, of special economic regimes that aim at facilitating exports and investment in areas such as agriculture and textile.
The meeting enabled discussion of the role that the EU and its member states can and should play in its general dialogue and cooperation with the two countries, particularly in regard to trade relationships and agreements and also the regulation of the EU based business enterprises benefiting from these special regimes.
The presentation of the ICJ research and reports comes at an important moment in the relationships of the EU with both Peru and Morocco.
As to the latter, the ICJ report will feed into the Human Rights dialogue between the Subcommittee on Human Rights of the European Parliament and Morocco that is taking place today in Brussels.
Reports:
Peru-Social Rights for Export Promotion-Publications-thematic report-2014-ENG (Full report in English – PDF)
Peru-Regimenes especiales exportacion-Publications-thematic report-2014-SPA (Full report in Spanish – PDF)
Morocco-Droits sociaux et regimes speciaux-Publications-thematic report-2014-FRE (Full Report in French – PDF)
Contacts:
Carlos Lopez, Senior Legal Advisor, Business and Human Rights Programme, t +41 22 979 3816, carlos.lopez(a)icj.org
Sandra Ratjen, Senior Legal Advisor, Economic, Social and cultural Rights Programme, t +41 22 979 3835, sandra.ratjen(a)icj.org
Nov 6, 2014 | Events
The ICJ’s Director of International Law and Protection Programmes, Alex Conte, will speak next week on access to justice at a meeting of the OECD Public Governance Committee.
The meeting Fostering Inclusive Growth and Trust in Justice Institutions: Access, Performance and Alternatives, will be held in Paris on 12 November 2014.
The ICJ’s presentation will focus on the key components of access to justice as a means of ensuring access by all to legal institutions capable of rending independent, impartial, binding and enforceable decisions.
It will also address the question of how, when such components are adhered to, trust in justice institutions is attained, from the perspective of the rule of law and public governance, from individuals’ perspectives and from investment and international perspectives.
Nov 5, 2014 | Events, News
On 6 and 7 November 2014, judges and representatives of judicial training institutions from most ASEAN Member States will gather in Manila to discuss recent developments in international human rights law on questions relating to the right to life.
Among the areas of consideration will be custodial deaths and other extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.
The two-day event, entitled Judicial Dialogue on Deciding Cases Involving Human Rights Violations in the ASEAN, is organized by the ICJ in collaboration with the Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism.
This initiative is also part of ICJ’s continuous efforts to support Southeast Asian judiciaries through the facilitation of colloquia and dialogues.
Among the event’s participants are Honourable Dato Seri Paduka Hj Kifrawi bin Dato Paduka Hj Kifli, Chief Justice of Brunei Darussalam; ICJ Commissioners Justice Adolfo S. Azcuna and Professor Vitit Muntarbhorn; and Dato’ Param Cumaraswamy, Co-Chairperson of the Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism and Former UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of Judges and Lawyers.
This Judicial Dialogue is aimed to be a platform for peer-to-peer sharing of experiences among judges, representatives from judicial training institutions, and lawyers and other jurists in the ASEAN.
Some of the discussions expected to take place include the international legal framework on the right to life, including custodial deaths and other extrajudicial executions; landmark cases that have previously found state authorities accountable for serious violations of human rights; and challenges faced by judges in cases involving serious violations of human rights and practical solutions to overcome them.
ASEAN-Programme Judicial Dialoghe-News-Events-2014-ENG (full text PDF)
Nov 3, 2014 | Events, News
The ICJ, OSCE and Group 484 are holding a training on migration and international human rights law starting on Monday 3 November in Arandelovac (Serbia).
The training has been organised by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Serbian NGO “Group 484” and will be given by the International Commission of Jurists. It will focus on international protection of migrants and asylum seekers, the principle of non-refoulement, and administrative detention, drawing from the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights, of the UN human rights systems and from EU law. The training will be centered on the ICJ Practitioners Guide no. 6: Migration and International Human Rights Law.
Serbia-JointTrainingMigrationHR-Events-2014-ENG (download the agenda in English)
Oct 3, 2014 | Agendas, Events
Today, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) held its second expert roundtable on asylum claims based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity.
Participants included asylum judges, lawyers, and academics, as well as officials from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and staff members from a number of civil society organizations.
Prof. Hathaway, Director of the Program in refugee and asylum law at the University of Michigan Law School, Prof. Anker, Director of the Harvard Law School’s Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program, and Judge Lars Bay Larsen, judge of the Court of Justice of the European Union, were the main speakers at the roundtable. Each delivered a presentation focussing on different normative aspects of asylum claims based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity.
The programme of the second expert roundtable, including a list of all participants, can be downloaded here.
This roundtable forms part of a broader ICJ’S project on international protection claims based on sexual orientation AND/OR gender identity. The programme of the first roundtable organised in Brussels last June can be downloaded here. The ICJ’s commentary on the related CJEU judgment in X, Y and Z v. the Netherlands can be downloaded here.
Sep 22, 2014 | Events, News
The ICJ’s Director of the International Law and Protection Programmes, Alex Conte, was today an expert member of a plenary panel of the UN Human Rights Council concerning the application of international law to the use of armed drones.
