Dec 4, 2019 | News
The ICJ has highlighted the human rights of victims of terrorism in a presentation to States’ delegations to the UN in New York.
On 3 December 2019, ICJ Senior Legal Adviser Matt Pollard presented ICJ’s compilation, Human Rights of Victims of Terrorism, at an event organized by the Permanent Missions of Spain and Afghanistan and the UN Office on Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), with participation by the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism.
In the presentation, the ICJ recognised the achievements of Spain and Afghanistan in establishing a Group of Friends of Victims of Terrorism, and in achieving consensus for a ground-breaking General Assembly resolution in June, and UNOCT’s ongoing work including the UN victims of terrorism support portal.
The ICJ also emphasised key elements such as: the essential role of victims’ associations and other civil society actors; the need to move beyond expressions of solidary to implement concrete measures of assistance; and the need for a human-rights based approach to victims of terrorism.
Among key issues, the ICJ highlighted: effective, rapid and simple access to assistance; access to justice and the truth; recognition and remembrance; avoiding exploitation and re-traumatization; preventing further attacks or violence, while respecting the rule of law and human rights; ensuring involvement of victims’ representatives in designing, implementing and assessing measures for victims; and the importance of international cooperation.
The presentation also looked forward to next steps towards concrete realization of the human rights of victims of terrorism, including through State’s responses to the call in the General Assembly resolution to develop and implement National Action Plans.
For more information contact matt.pollard(a)icj.org
Dec 3, 2019 | Agendas, Events, News
Today, the ICJ together with Scuola Universitaria Sant’Anna and Scuola Superiore de la Magistratura hold a training seminar on access to the asylum procedure and the right to an effective remedy in Pisa, Italy.
The training seminar brings together 65 Italian judges and lawyers specialized in access to international protection. During the two days of training, experts from the CJEU, Italian judiciary and academics, UNHCR and ICJ will deliver the training, bringing international human rights and EU law perspectives to the discussion on Italian law and practice.
Among the issues discussed during the training seminar will be access to the asylum procedure in international and EU law, access to the asylum procedure and accelerated procedures in light of the right to an effective remedy, appeal, legal assistance and legal aid, and interpretation. Further issues including the burden of proof in international protection cases and duties of cooperation with the asylum authority will be examined from the perspectives of judges, of territorial Commissions and lawyers as well as from the international and EU law perspective. Finally, working groups on burden of proof, credibility assessment of asylum seekers and countries of origin of asylum seekers will take place.
See the full agenda here.
This training is a part of FAIR PLUS project. It was carried out with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of ICJ and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
Dec 2, 2019 | Advocacy, News
From 30 November to 1 December 2019, the ICJ and the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (RWI) held the Judges’ Workshop on Adjudicating Environmental Cases with a Gender Perspective, in Bangkok, Thailand.
Judges from Fiji, Maldives, Indonesia, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Cambodia participated in the workshop. The discussions aimed at strengthening judges’ understanding of the relationship between women’s human rights and the right to a healthy environment. Throughout the two-day event, judges exchanged views on and considered cases showing how environmental degradation and climate change have a disproportionately detrimental impact on women, and how these phenomena affect them in a significantly different way as compared to men.
“It is through these gatherings that we learn from each other’s experiences and strengthen each other’s knowledge on this area,” said Frederick Rawski, ICJ’s Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific.
He continued, “We hope that this is the beginning of a greater body of work from judges in this region with a view to ensuring equality before the law and non-discrimination in environmental cases.”
During the workshop, the judges referred to the reference manual, Women’s Human Rights and the Right to a Clean, Safe, Healthy, and Sustainable Environment, which was developed by RWI with ICJ’s expert input. At the end of the workshop, judges agreed they would use this manual as a guide when faced with cases involving women and the right to a clean, safe, healthy and sustainable environment.
Contact:
Boram Jang, International Legal Advisor, International Commission of Jurists, t: +66 63 665 5315, e: boram.jang(a)icj.org
Resources:
To access pictures from the event, click here.
Dec 1, 2019 | News
The ICJ, in collaboration with the Judicial Training Institute of Sierra Leone and the Judiciary of Sierra Leone, hosted a judicial dialogue for effective implementation of global, regional and sub-regional human rights standards.
The event brought together over 40 judges representing the High Courts, Courts of Appeal and Supreme Courts of the Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone.
The President of the Republic of Sierra Leone Julius Maada Bio, addressed the opening ceremony, stressed the critical role of the judiciary and called on the judges to remain focused and independent even in the face of unwarranted criticism.
Sierra Leone’s Chief Justice Desmond Babatunde Edwards, for his part, emphasized the duty of the judiciary to ensure that the protection of internationally guaranteed human rights is not compromised.
Other speakers at the opening ceremony were Sierra Leone’s Attorney-General/Minister of Justice Ms Priscilla Schwartz, the Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone Ms Patricia Ndanema, and the President of the Sierra Leone Bar Association Mr Basita Michael.
‘‘A core objective of the ICJ is to support the protection of human rights across the globe through the promotion of respect for the rule of law,‘‘ said Arnold Tsunga, ICJ’s Africa Regional Director. Tsunga stressed that the programme was initiated based on the ICJ’s conviction that the challenge in Africa is not necessarily a lack of human rights law and standards, but the existence of a huge gap in the implementation.
“The training sessions and judicial dialogue are important to ensure that the quality of supply meets the demand for human rights protection in Africa,” he added.
Working sessions of the event were facilitated by resources persons, including ICJ Commissioners Justice Jesmina King of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Professor Michelo Hansungule; Dr Chidi Anslem Odinkalu of the Africa office of the Open Society Justice Institute and Madam Hannah Forster, Executive Director of the African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies.
The event was enabled through support by the European Union.
Contact
Arnold Tsunga, ICJ Regional Director for Africa, t: +27 716405926 or +263 777 283 249: e: arnold.tsunga(a)icj.org
Solomon Ebobrah, Senior Legal Adviser (ARP), t: +234 803 492 7549, e: solomon.ebobrah(a)icj.org
Nov 29, 2019 | Agendas, Events, News
Today, in Brussels, the ICJ held a roundtable discussion on the impact of counter-terrorism laws on specific groups, including children, and ethnic and religious groups.
The roundtable brought together 34 judges, lawyers, NGOs and other experts from countries including Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Belgium, Portugal, Romania, and Spain to discuss how the rights of children and of ethnic and religious minorities can be best protected in applying counter-terrorism legislation in the courts, especially in light of the EU Directive 2017/541 on Combatting Terrorism.
This was the last of four roundtables held by the ICJ and its partner organizations between April and November 2019 in the framework of the EU funded project “Judges Uniting to Stop Terrorism with International, Constitutional and European law (JUSTICE).”
The discussion in the first session of the roundtable addressed the disproportionate impact of counterterrorism laws on ethnic and religious groups. It focused on compliance with the principle of non-discrimination, through safeguards in legislation, in the judicial application of counter-terrorism laws, and in investigation and evidence gathering.
The second session of the roundtable addressed the particular impact of counter-terrorism legislation on children, including the challenges involved in protecting the human rights of children of “foreign fighters” and ensuring the primacy of their best interests in decisions on their return to EU countries. Participants also discussed protection of the human rights of returned children of “foreign fighters” both as victims of terrorism and where they are accused of crimes of terrorism.
See the agenda here.
This workshop was carried out with the financial support of the European Union and the Open Society Foundations. Its contents are the sole responsibility of ICJ and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union or the Open Society Foundations.
Nov 28, 2019 | Cases, News
The ICJ and Amnesty International have submitted a joint third party intervention before the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Judge Jan Grzęda.
Judge Grzęda’s mandate as a member of the Polish National Council of the Judiciary (NCJ) was prematurely terminated by legislation that entered into force in 2018. Under this law, the mandates of the judicial members of the NCJ appointed under previous legislation were automatically brought to an end once new members were appointed.
Judge Grzęda applied to the European Court of Human Rights alleging that he had been denied access to a tribunal to challenge the termination of his mandate and had been denied an effective remedy for the violations of his rights.
In their third party intervention, the ICJ and Amnesty International analyze international standards on judicial independence and self-governance, including as regards the role national councils for the judiciary, and the consequences of these standards for the right of access to court under Article 6.1 ECHR. The intervention also analyses the role of the NCJ in safeguarding judicial independence in Poland, and recent legislative and policy developments that have seriously undermined the independence of the Polish judiciary.
Read the full intervention text here.
