Mar 3, 2018 | Agendas, Events, News
Today begins in Istanbul (Turkey) a two-day training for lawyers and CSO practitioners representing and working with migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers.
This event is organized by ICJ, in cooperation with its partners Refugee Rights Turkey, the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE), Mülteci-Der (MD) and ICJ-EI, as part of the EU co-financed project Fostering Access to Rights for Migrants, Refugees and Asylum-Seekers in Turkey.
30 lawyers and civil society practitioners – representing nine different bar associations and relevant organisations from the Ankara area and other nearby key migration and asylum locations – are taking part in the training on 3 and 4 March.
The training aims to update lawyers and CSOs on the international and national law on the rights of refugees, migrants and asylum-seekers in order to be effective in their work at both the national and international levels. It aims at an effective implementation of the Turkish legal framework on asylum and migration.
The main thematic areas to be discussed will be the principle of non-refoulement, international protection, detention and access to economic, social and cultural rights.
The training will use as a basis the draft training materials prepared by the ICJ and its partners (to be published an the end of 2019) and, among other sources, the ICJ Practitioners Guide no. 6: Migration and International Human Rights Law.
The project “Fostering Access to Rights for Migrants, Refugees and Asylum-Seekers in Turkey” is funded by the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) of the European Union.
Turkey-Training-Istanbul2-MigrationAsylum-Agenda-2018-tur (download the agenda in Turkish)
Feb 14, 2018 | News
From 12 to 14 February, representatives the ICJ visited Uzbekistan as the first step in a new programme of work on access to justice in the area of economic, social and cultural rights.
During the visit, ICJ representatives met with a number of State institutions relevant to this topic, including the Supreme Court, the High Judicial Council, the Ministry of Justice, the Bar Association of Uzbekistan as well as the Commission of the European Union Technical Assistance Programme National Coordination Unit (NCU).
The ICJ also met with the Delegation of the European Union to Uzbekistan.
The visit allowed the ICJ to provide information and begin plans for its work to advance access to justice for the protection of economic, social and cultural rights in Uzbekistan in the framework of the ACCESS project (“Advancing Civil Society in promoting ESCR Standards”), supported by the Delegation of the European Union to Uzbekistan.
During this visit, the ICJ signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Research Centre for the Study of Justice under the Supreme Judicial Council of the Republic of Uzbekistan, with which it held an international seminar on Comparative Approaches to Selection, Appointment and Evaluation of Judges in September 2017.
The memorandum will serve as a platform for furthering ICJ’s work with the judiciary in Uzbekistan within the ACCESS project and other initiatives.
The ICJ is grateful to all those who met with the ICJ representatives in Tashkent.
Feb 8, 2018
The ICJ has today published a compilation of international human rights standards relevant to Traditional and Customary Justice Systems.
The compilation is being published as part of an ongoing project on the relationship between traditional and customary justice systems, including indigenous justice, and human rights, access to justice, and the rule of law.
Among the sources included in the compilation are global and regional treaty provisions, UN and other declarations, and the jurisprudence and recommendations of Committees and Special Procedures established by treaties and the UN Human Rights Council.
The sources are organised by themes including the rights of women, rights of children, the role of judges and lawyers and the administration of justice, the rights of indigenous peoples, and the rights of minorities.
The 2017 ICJ Geneva Forum of Judges and Lawyers brought together judges and lawyers from around the world to discuss traditional and customary justice systems, and the ICJ is currently planning for continuing work on the theme over the next three years with the aim of producing practical global legal and policy guidance to assist actors within traditional systems, actors within State justice systems, and others to best ensure that everyone enjoys their rights of access to justice and other human rights. A report of the Forum is also available.
Contact
Matt Pollard, Senior Legal Adviser, matt.pollard@icj.org
Universal-Trad Custom Justice Compil updated-Publications-2018-ENG (Full publication in PDF)
Cover Photo: Traditional leaders preside over a case in B-Court, Nyang Payam, Torit County, South Sudan. Photo Credit: UNDP South Sudan2016Angelique Reid ©2016 United Nations
Feb 1, 2018
The ICJ today expressed its concern that a constitutional amendment under consideration by the House of Representatives’ Committee on Constitutional Amendments would, if adopted, severely restrict the rights to freedom expression and assembly in the country.
The proposed amendment would limit the constitutional protection of the exercise of these rights only to what State authorities deem to be “reasonable”.
In a letter to Representative Roger G. Mercado, the Chairperson of the Committee, the ICJ urged the removal of the phrase “responsible exercise” as a precondition for the exercise of the fundamental freedoms of expression and assembly.
The ICJ stressed that this limitation is incompatible with the obligations of the Philippines under international human rights law.
“Adding the phrase ‘responsible exercise’ is unacceptable since it gives those persons or government agencies tasked to execute the law unfettered discretion to restrict freedom of expression and assembly,” said Frederick Rawski, ICJ’s Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific.
“The restriction clearly impairs the essence of these rights and cannot meet the standard of legality,” he added.
Contact
Emerlynne Gil, Senior International Legal Adviser for Southeast Asia, t: +662 619 8477 (ext. 206) ; e: emerlynne.gil@icj.org
Background
The 1987 Philippine Constitution provides three ways by which it can be revised or amended. First, Congress can constitute itself, upon three-fourths vote of all its Members, to act as a Constituent Assembly. Second, Congress may call a Constitutional Convention by a vote of two-thirds of all its members or submit to the electorate, by a majority vote of all its members, the question of whether to call a convention or not. Third, at least 12% of all registered voters may sign a petition to propose amendments to the Philippine Constitution.
On 7 December 2016, President Duterte issued an Executive Order constituting a Consultative Committee to conduct consultations and to review the provisions of the 1987 Constitution. Their findings shall be submitted to the Philippine Congress.
On 16 January 2018, the House of Representatives voted to constitute Congress as a Constituent Assembly to commence the amendment of the Philippine Constitution. Thus, the Committee on Constitutional Amendments was created to draft the proposed changes to the Philippine Constitution.
One of the proposals considered is to amend Section 4, Article III of the Philippine Constitution, adding the following four-word qualifier (in bold text) to the existing provision, so that it would read: “No law shall be passed abridging the responsible exercise of the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances.”
Freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are protected respectively under Articles 19 and 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). They only may be restricted on narrowly specified grounds, such as where necessary to protect national security or public health. Overly broad and expansive limitations, such as protecting only expression exercised “reasonably”, goes well beyond these specified grounds.
Philippines-Congress Sub Committees-Advocacy-Open Letters-2018-ENG (Full letter in PDF)
Jan 18, 2018 | News
The ICJ today expressed concern about the impacts on freedom of expression of a decision by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that would shut down Rappler, an online news source in the Philippines.
On 11 January, after a year-long investigation, the SEC of the Philippines revoked the Certificate of Incorporation of Rappler, Inc.
The ICJ is concerned that the decision to target Rappler may have been retaliatory and politically motivated.
The investigation was initiated by a letter transmitted by the Solicitor General to the SEC requesting the latter to investigate allegations of foreign ownership of Rappler, Inc.
“The cancellation of the Certificate of Incorporation of Rappler, Inc. constitutes a significant restriction on freedom of expression,” said Emerlynne Gil, ICJ’s Senior International Legal Adviser.
“The Courts must give rigorous scrutiny both to the specific basis the authorities offer for the decision concerning Rappler, Inc., and the scope and application of the foreign equity provision more generally, including an inquiry whether the law is being applied in a proportionate and non-discriminatory manner,” she added.
If such restrictions on freedom of expression are enforced with the actual aim of punishing or preventing critical political expression, or are enforced only against some political or other opinions and not others, this would violate the rights to freedom of expression and non-discrimination under the Philippine Constitution and international human rights law, the ICJ adds.
Further, under international human rights law any restriction on freedom of expression must be limited to what is necessary and proportionate both in relation to the legitimate aim it pursues and in relation to its impacts.
For instance, it would not be consistent with international human rights law to prohibit all foreign ownership of mass media or mass-media-owning entities, unless the government was able to demonstrate that the same legitimate aim could not reasonably be achieved by prohibiting only majority foreign ownership.
Contact
Emerlynne Gil, ICJ Senior International Legal Adviser for Southeast Asia, t: +662 619 8477 (ext. 206) ; e: emerlynne.gil@icj.org
Philippines-Rappler-News-Web stories-2018-ENG (Full text in PDF)
