International standards on the judiciary, legal profession, and prosecutors all affirm the need for these professionals to have appropriate training and qualifications.{{1}} They clarify that the requirement of requisite qualifications and training extends not only to knowledge of national law, but also training on ethics, and on international human rights protection.{{2}}
Continuing education programmes and other means must be available to ensure that legal professionals are able to ensure their knowledge of national and international human rights law remain up-to-date.{{3}}
Legal education must be open to all persons with requisite qualifications, without any discrimination on grounds of race, colour, sex, religion, political or other opinion, national, linguistic or social origin, property, income, birth or other status.{{4}} Governments, professional associations and education institutions should take special measures to provide opportunities and ensure needs-appropriate training for law students from groups whose needs for legal services are not consistently met, particularly including those who have distinct cultures, traditions or languages or have been the victims of past discrimination.{{5}}
Legal training requirements for judges, lawyers and prosecutors alike include a programme of study, which is five-and-a-half years in length, and includes theoretical and practical programs. Program graduates obtain a degree in juridical science and the title of lawyer.
While the ICJ has not conducted detailed research into the quality and availability of legal training in Honduras, it has noted a media report in 2013 claimed that the number of students that joined law programs in Honduras had significantly decreased as a result of insecurity faced by legal professionals in their daily activities.{{6}}
The Judicial School, a body of the Council of the Judiciary, is in charge of promoting continuous training and the evaluation of the judiciary and other legal professionals in Honduras.{{7}} Continuing education, following the award of a law degree, is not however mandatory. The ICJ notes that a judges’ association has complained that continuing education/training courses are not organized by the Judicial School on a regular basis, and that, when courses are available, not all judges and prosecutors appear to have access to them on an equal basis.{{8}}
[[1]]1. UN Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary, [expand title=”Principle 10;”]
Persons selected for judicial office shall be individuals of integrity and ability with appropriate training or qualifications in law. Any method of judicial selection shall safeguard against judicial appointments for improper motives. In the selection of judges, there shall be no discrimination against a person on the grounds of race, colour, sex, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or status, except that a requirement, that a candidate for judicial office must be a national of the country concerned, shall not be considered discriminatory.
[/expand] UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, [expand title=”Principle 9;”]
Governments, professional associations of lawyers and educational institutions shall ensure that lawyers have appropriate education and training and be made aware of the ideals and ethical duties of the lawyer and of human rights and fundamental freedoms recognized by national and international law.
[/expand] UN Guidelines on the Role of Prosecutors, [expand title=”Guideline 1.”]
Persons selected as prosecutors shall be individuals of integrity and ability, with appropriate training and qualifications.
[/expand][[1]]
[[2]]2. UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, [expand title=”Principle 9;”]
Governments, professional associations of lawyers and educational institutions shall ensure that lawyers have appropriate education and training and be made aware of the ideals and ethical duties of the lawyer and of human rights and fundamental freedoms recognized by national and international law.
[/expand] UN Guidelines on the Role of Prosecutors, [expand title=”Guideline 2(b);”]
2. States shall ensure that: … ( b ) Prosecutors have appropriate education and training and should be made aware of the ideals and ethical duties of their office, of the constitutional and statutory protections for the rights of the suspect and the victim, and of human rights and fundamental freedoms recognized by national and international law.
[/expand] Draft Universal Declaration on the Independence of Justice (also known as the Singhvi Declaration), [expand title=”Article 40;”]
Judges shall keep themselves informed about international conventions and other instruments establishing human rights norms, and shall seek to implement them as far as feasible, within the limits set by their national constitutions and laws.
[/expand] See Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct, [expand title=”Value 6:”]
Competence and diligence are prerequisites to the due performance of judicial office.
[/expand] Competence and diligence, [expand title=”6.4.”]
A judge shall keep himself or herself informed about relevant developments of international law, including international conventions and other instruments establishing human rights norms.
[/expand] UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Report to the Human Rights Council, UN Doc. A/HRC/14/26 (9 April 2010), and Advance report on the global thematic study on human rights education and training of legal professionals, UN Doc. A/HRC/20/20 (2012), para. 112; International Bar Association (IBA), Standards for the Independence of the Legal Profession, [expand title=”Standards 2-4.”]
2. Legal education shall be open to all persons with requisite qualifications and no one shall be denied such opportunity by reason of race, colour, sex, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, status or physical disability.
3. Legal education shall be designed to promote knowledge and understanding of the role and the skills required in practising as a lawyer, including awareness of the legal and ethical duties of a lawyer and of the human rights and fundamental freedoms recognised within the given jurisdiction and by international law.
4. Programmes of legal education shall have regard to the social responsibilities of the lawyer, including co-operation in providing legal services to the needy and the promotion and defence of legal rights of whatever nature whether economic, social, cultural, civil and political and specially rights of such nature in the process of development.
[/expand] International Association of Prosecutors, Standards of Professional Responsibility and Statement of the Essential Duties and Rights of Prosecutors, [expand title=”Article 1.”]
Prosecutors shall: at all times maintain the honour and dignity of their profession; always conduct themselves professionally, in accordance with the law and the rules and ethics of their profession; at all times exercise the highest standards of integrity and care; keep themselves well-informed and abreast of relevant legal developments; strive to be, and to be seen to be, consistent, independent and impartial; always protect an accused person’s right to a fair trial, and in particular ensure that evidence favourable to the accused is disclosed in accordance with the law or the requirements of a fair trial; always serve and protect the public interest; respect, protect and uphold the universal concept of human dignity and human rights.
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[[3]]3. Draft Universal Declaration on the Independence of Justice (also known as the Singhvi Declaration), [expand title=”Article 12;”]
Continuing education shall be available to judges.
[/expand] Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct, [expand title=”Value 6:”]
Competence and diligence are prerequisites to the due performance of judicial office.
[/expand] Competence and diligence, [expand title=”6.3.”]
A judge shall take reasonable steps to maintain and enhance the judge’s knowledge, skills and personal qualities necessary for the proper performance of judicial duties, taking advantage for this purpose of the training and other facilities which should be made available, under judicial control, to judges.
[/expand] Statute of the Iberoamerican Judge, [expand title=”Article 27-28;”]
Art.27. Nature and cost of the ongoing training
The ongoing or in-service training constitutes a right and a duty for the judge, and a responsibility for the Judiciary, which shall facilitate it free of charge.
Art.28. Voluntariness of the ongoing training
The ongoing training can be conceived as obligatory or voluntary for the judge, but it must be marked by an obligatory nature in case of promotion, transfer involving a change of jurisdiction, important legal reforms and other circumstances specially qualified.
[/expand] UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Report to the Human Rights Council, UN Doc. A/HRC/14/26 (9 April 2010), and Advance report on the global thematic study on human rights education and training of legal professionals, UN Doc. A/HRC/20/20 (2012), para. 112.[[3]]
[[4]]4. Draft Universal Declaration on the Independence of Justice (also known as the Singhvi Declaration), [expand title=”Article 77.”]
Legal education and entry into the legal profession shall be open to all persons with requisite qualifications and no one shall be denied such opportunity by reason of race, colour, sex, religion, political or other opinion, national, linguistic or social origin, property, income, birth or status.
[/expand][[4]]
[[5]]11. UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, [expand title=”Principle 11.”]
In countries where there exist groups, communities or regions whose needs for legal services are not met, particularly where such groups have distinct cultures, traditions or languages or have been the victims of past discrimination, Governments, professional associations of lawyers and educational institutions should take special measures to provide opportunities for candidates from these groups to enter the legal profession and should ensure that they receive training appropriate to the needs of their groups.
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[[6]]6. Saúl Vásquez in La Prensa, “Un 65% ha bajado la matrícula en Derecho” (9 October 2013), last accessed 19 August 2014.[[6]]
[[7]]7. Law of the Judicial Career, decree n. 953, 30 Juin 1980, article 34-37. See also Judicial Power in Honduras, ”The Law of the Council for the Judiciary and Judicial Career Service, Decree No. 219-2011” (last accessed 6 March 2015).[[7]]
[[8]]8. Association of Judges for Democracy, Letter to the Council for the Judiciary and Judicial Career Service (23 September 2013), p. 4-5 (last accessed 19 August 2014).[[8]]
