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)
Oct 15, 2014 | News
The Malaysian government must ensure a rally tomorrow by lawyers protesting the country’s stifling Sedition Act can proceed peacefully, without undue interference by the police, who must take lawful measures to prevent violence from counter protesters, said the ICJ today.
Oct 15, 2014 | News
Judges and representatives from judicial institutes from across Southeast Asia are attending a regional workshop to discuss how they can help counter gender-based violence and gender stereotypes.
The workshop, organized by the UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, in collaboration with the Office of the Thai Judiciary and the ICJ is held in Bangkok on 15 and 16 October 2014.
This Regional Workshop for Judicial Training Institutions on Good Practices in Promoting Women’s Human Rights Compliant Justice Delivery will focus on using the CEDAW Convention and on eradicating gender stereotypes, especially in cases related to violence against women.
It also aims to improve the progress of the implementation of the CEDAW Convention and strengthen the regional network of judicial training institutions in eight Southeast Asian countries, namely Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam.
Speakers at the opening session include Hon. Justice Pattarasak Vannasaeng, Secretary-General of the Office of the Thai Judiciary; H.E. Mr. Philip Calvert, Ambassador of Canada for Thailand; Ms. Roberta Clarke, Regional Director of the UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific; and Sam Zarifi, ICJ’s Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific.
Thailand-Women Judicial training-News-web story-2014-ENG (full text in PDF)
Oct 13, 2014 | News
On 11-12 October 2014, the ICJ held a “Strategic Litigation” meeting for 25 Muslim Attorney Centre (MAC) lawyers and paralegals in Hat Yai, in Thailand’s deep South.
The objective of the meeting was for MAC lawyers to discuss and exchange litigation strategies with a leading international criminal lawyer.
The meeting focused on the use of expert witnesses, forensic evidence and the appellate jurisdiction.
MAC was founded by a group of Muslim lawyers in February 2007 to provide free legal aid to disadvantaged people in the four southernmost provinces of Thailand, especially those who have been affected by the special security laws in place including Martial Law and the Emergency Decree.
Oct 13, 2014 | News
The Royal Thai Government should comply with its international human rights obligations to provide remedies and reparation to victims of torture or other ill-treatment, the ICJ, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said today.
Oct 10, 2014 | News
As Thai Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-Ocha visits Myanmar to revive the stalled Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ), the governments of Thailand and Myanmar should cooperate to establish a legal framework protecting the human rights of the area’s residents, said the ICJ.
