Jun 20, 2017 | News, Training modules
Today, the ICJ and Bundesfachverband unbegleitete minderjährige Flüchtlinge (BumF) are holding a training for lawyers on the rights of migrant children and on accessing international human rights mechanisms in Berlin.
The training aims to support the strategic use of national and international mechanisms to foster migrant children’s access to justice.
The training will take place over the course of two days: 20-21 June 2017.
The training will focus on accessing the international mechanisms in order to protect and promote the rights of migrant children, the child’s procedural rights including the right to be heard, the right to family life and family reunification.
A practical case analysis will be part of the training.
Trainers include Karolína Babická, Legal Adviser of ICJ’s Europe Programme, Claudia Kittel from the CRC Monitoring body in Germany, Sigrun Krause from JUMEN e.V. and Joris Sprakel, Lecturer at the Hague University.
The training is based on draft training materials prepared by the ICJ (to be published in the second half of 2017) and the ICJ Practitioners Guide no. 6: Migration and International Human Rights Law.
It is organized as part of the FAIR project co-funded by the Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme of the European Union and OSIFE.
The past trainings on the rights of migrant children within the FAIR project took place in Spain, Italy, Bulgaria, Malta, Greece and Ireland. The Strategic litigation Retreat, which will bring three lawyers of each of the national trainings together with experts on in-depth insights and strategising on accessing international mechanisms will follow in October this year.
Download the agenda (in German) here:
Germany-FAIRtraining-Event-Agenda-2017 (in PDF)
Jun 13, 2017 | News
The ICJ welcomed today the Special Rapporteur’s report on Turkey and his preliminary findings on his visit to the country last November.
The ICJ welcomes and concurs with the finding that the “situation of the judiciary is undermining freedom of opinion and expression”.
Mass dismissals of judges have had a devastating effect on the judiciary’s independence, already weakened by the current state of emergency. Furthermore, we are concerned at the claim by the President that the state of emergency will remain in place until Turkey reaches “peace and prosperity”. Whatever other questions there may be about their validity, maintaining emergency derogations to human rights law instruments for such an open-ended period would clearly not be in line with international law.
The ICJ is also concerned at the constitutional amendments approved on the 16th of April by a referendum. Among other things, the amendments have given powers to the President and the Parliament to appoint all the members of the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors, the body tasked with protecting the independence of these professions.
The judiciary has had in the past an important role in implementing legislation that has severely limited the freedom of journalists to carry out their job.
The independence of the judiciary has now been eroded to its core in Turkey. Without it, there is no effective remedy in the country to protect freedom of opinion and expression.
Further reading: ICJ’s briefing paper Turkey: the Judicial System in Peril
May 25, 2017 | News, Training modules
Today, the ICJ and the Immigrant Council of Ireland are holding a training for lawyers on the rights of migrant children and on accessing international human rights mechanisms in Dublin.
The training aims to support the strategic use of national and international mechanisms to foster migrant children’s access to justice.
The training will take place over the course of two days: 25-26 May 2017.
The training will focus on accessing the international mechanisms in order to protect and promote the rights of migrant children, the child’s procedural rights including the right to be heard, the right to family life, access to housing and education and immigration detention.
A practical case analysis will be part of the training. Trainers include Róisín Pillay, Director of ICJ’s Europe Programme, Dr. Patricia Brazil, BL and Joris Sprakel, Hague University.
The training is based on draft training materials prepared by the ICJ (to be published in the second half of 2017) and the ICJ Practitioners Guide no. 6: Migration and International Human Rights Law.
It is organized as part of the FAIR project co-funded by the Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme of the European Union and OSIFE.
As part of the project, this training follows the trainings on the rights of migrant children in Spain, Italy, Bulgaria, Malta and Greece. Training in Germany and Strategic litigation Retreat will follow later this year.
Download the agenda here: Ireland-FAIRtraining-Event-agenda-2017-ENG
May 19, 2017 | Multimedia items, News, Video clips
Zainab Kistabayeva, Iuliia Votslava, Shoira Sobirova and Daniyar Kanafin, four lawyers who have been trained at the Programme, and ICJ’s Legal Adviser Temur Shakirov, talk about this recent event.
Temur Shakirov
Zainab Kistabayeva
Iuliia Votslava
Shoira Sobirova
Daniyar Kanafin
May 1, 2017 | News
Today, the ICJ begins its third International Human Rights Training Programme for Lawyers from Central Asia.
The objective of this programme is to train Central Asian lawyers on application of international human rights law in criminal proceedings.
In the course of the programme, the participants will learn how to use international human rights law in national courts and to make effective use of international human rights mechanisms.
Leading international experts and practitioners will share their insights with the participants of the training programme on how to interpret key concepts of international human rights law and apply them in practice, both nationally and internationally.
The training programme is built around the study of the relevant international jurisprudence on the right to fair trial, right to liberty, freedom from torture and other ill-treatment, and associated rights, including cases originating from Central Asian region considered by UN treaty bodies, such as the UN Human Rights Committee.
“Lawyers are on the frontline of implementing international human rights law in practice, and this remains an enormous challenge in Central Asia,” said Róisín Pillay, Director of the ICJ Europe and CIS Programme.
“The programme presents a unique opportunity for lawyers from the region to meet key experts in international human rights law, officials from the UN Secretariat and other lawyers from the ICJ network, and to develop practical expertise on how to apply international human rights law in the defence of their clients,” she added.
In the course of the training programme, the participants will attend one of the meetings during the 60th session of the UN Committee Against Torture (CAT) that will take place in Geneva on 18 April–12 May 2017.
The 25 participants have been selected through a rigorous process from among 150 applications from across the region, which testifies to the growing interest of lawyers from the region in applying international human rights standards in their practice.
The ICJ is grateful to the European Union for its support of this initiative.
Download training materials in Russian:
Central Asia-Arbitrary arrest and detention-Training Modules-2017-RUS
Central Asia-CIS lawyers training-Training Modules-2017-RUS
Central Asia-Master file caselaw-GTP-Training Modules-2017-RUS
Central Asia-NRefpresMFICJ-CIS training-Training Modules-2017-RUS
Central Asia-PIL and HRL_Sassoli-Training Modules-2017-RUS
Central Asia-PPT Right to life-Training Modules-2017-RUS
Central Asia-Torture Pollard-Training Modules-2017-RUS
Apr 27, 2017 | News
An expert meeting organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in Warsaw focused on the human rights-compliant implementation of legislation and policies to counter the foreign terrorist fighter phenomenon. The ICJ partnered in the event.
The two-day meeting (25-26 April) brought together 21 participants (11 men and 10 women) – including experts from international and national organizations, civil society, academia and OSCE staff – to reflect on experiences and human rights challenges in responses aimed at countering the threat posed by foreign terrorist fighters.
“Human rights compliance is essential both for the short and the long-term effectiveness of any measure to address the phenomenon,” said Omer Fisher, Head of the ODIHR Human Rights Department. “Jeopardizing human rights protection in the course of responding to the threat will not solve, but rather exacerbate the problem, because human rights violations provide fertile ground in which terrorism can thrive.”
Over the past few years, OSCE participating States have taken a wide range of administrative and criminal law measures to prevent the movement of terrorists or terrorist groups, to suppress the provision of support for them, and to counter the incitement and recruitment of foreign terrorist fighters.
“Broadly defined criminal offences and administrative measures based on vague definitions – including of terrorism and related offences – are open to abusive, arbitrary or discriminatory application,” said Róisín Pillay, Director of the Europe Programme of the ICJ.
“Legislation criminalizing acts such as travel for the purpose of terrorism must, therefore, be narrowly defined, clear and accessible, and provide for appropriate legal and procedural safeguards,” she added.
The expert meeting will inform a policy guidance document, which ODIHR will prepare in the coming months to assist OSCE participating States in the human rights-compliant and gender sensitive implementation of legislation and policies to address the phenomenon of foreign terrorist fighters.
