Sep 17, 2018 | News
On 16 September, the Constitutional Court made public its decision to order that the Commissioner of the International Commission against Impunity (CICIG) Iván Velásquez be permitted to re-enter the country.
For more than a decade, the UN-backed CICIG has helped investigate high-profile officials for corruption.
Under the tenure of head commissioner Ivan Velasquez, the CICIG has helped Guatemalan prosecutors investigate and prosecute many high-level politicians, judges and government officials, including former president Otto Perez Molina and members of his cabinet.
Elected in 2015, current President Jimmy Morales initially supported the CICIG but he himself and other family members have become subjects of investigations into illegal campaign financing. They deny all charges.
President Morales declared on 31 August that he would not renew the mandate of the CICIG which is due to expire in September 2019 and then proceeded to ban Commissioner Velasquez from re-entering the country.
This decision sparked a number of protests including legal challenges in the Constitutional Court.
“The decision by the Constitutional Court should permit the CICIG to continue its work. It removes one of the greatest obstacles, imposed by order of Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales himself, to the fulfilment of Guatemala’s international obligations, as enshrined in the International Accord on Human Rights which created the Commission,” said Ramon Cadena, ICJ Director for Central America.
With respect to the amparo lawsuits which sought an injunction to reverse the the decision of the President Morales not to renew the mandate of the CICIG, the Constitutional Court declined to order provisional measures and therefore these legal proceedings will continue until they are determined in court.
“The ICJ urges the Constitutional Court to respect the legal time limits and to make a final decision on the lawsuit, in compliance with international human rights law and standards.
If the mandate of the CICIG were not renewed, it would seriously affect access to justice and constitute a major obstacle to the fulfilment of Guatemala’s international obligation to combat impunity,” Ramon Cadena added.
Sep 14, 2018 | News
The ICJ met this week in Warsaw with the First President of the Polish Supreme Court, Małgorzata Gersdorf.
Róisín Pillay, Director of the ICJ Europe and Central Asia Programme, met with President Gersdorf to convey the support of the ICJ for the Court’s defence of the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary in Poland, in the face of government attacks.
The ICJ emphasized that a new law on the Supreme Court that attempts to force the “retirement” of 27 of the 72 Supreme Court judges, including the First President, by lowering the mandatory retirement age for its judges from 70 to 65 years, contravenes international human rights law and standards, including the right to a fair hearing.
The measure is contrary to the principle of the security of tenure of judges and therefore to the independence of the judiciary, as expressed in the UN Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary.
In August, the Supreme Court submitted a preliminary ruling request to the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) seeking its interpretation on the compliance of the measure with EU law. The Supreme Court has suspended implementation of the law pending the proceedings before the CJEU.
The European Commission has recognized the current situation as undermining “the principle of judicial independence, including the irremovability of judges” and has triggered a procedure under Article 7 of the Treaty of the European Union that could ultimately lead to suspension of Poland’s EU voting rights.
The Commission has also launched infringement proceedings against Poland in respect of the law on the Supreme Court.
An ICJ letter of 11 July 2018, signed by 22 senior judges from all regions of the world, urged the Polish government to act immediately to reinstate the forcibly retired judges in office.
Sep 10, 2018 | Advocacy, News
The ICJ today called on all MEPs to vote in favour of the draft resolution and report by rapporteur Judith Sargentini MEP, before the European Parliament, which would activate Article 7 of the Treaty of the European Union in respect of Hungary.
A vote for the resolution would mean that, under Article 7.1, the Council would determine whether there is a clear risk of serious breach by Hungary of the founding values of the EU.
Ultimately, if the situation persists, this would allow the Council to take more robust measures, including suspension of voting rights, to address the situation.
The vote, scheduled for 12 September, is crucial for the rule of law in Hungary and throughout the European Union.
The Parliament will vote on whether to activate the process under Article 7, by calling on the Council to identify a risk of serious breach by Hungary of the EU’s founding values, including the rule of law and respect for human rights.
The ICJ considers that the measures put in place by the Hungarian government since 2011 have led to a severe deterioration of the rule of law and human rights, by weakening Constitutional rights protection, limiting judicial independence, suppressing independent media, civil society and academic institutions, and imposing arbitrary laws that violate the human rights of marginalized sections of society.
Cumulatively, these measures pose a grave, systemic threat to the protection of the human rights of all people in Hungary.
“The European Parliament should respond to the critical situation in Hungary by using the powers available to it under Article 7 TEU to defend human rights and the rule of law. Not to do so would be to abandon Hungary to an increasingly dangerous path, and would set a damaging precedent for all of Europe,” said Róisín Pillay, Director of the ICJ Europe Programme.
Read the full statement and key concerns here: Hungary-triggering Art 7-Advocacy-2018-ENG (in PDF)
Sep 10, 2018 | Events, News
The legal profession plays a crucial role in ensuring access to justice for all, transparency and accountability of the state, Rule of law and the respect for human rights.
Yet, instead of being perceived as a vital player to the justice sector, today lawyers are often targeted by the governments in many OSCE countries for seeking truth and justice. As a result, lawyers often face high risks of persecution, harassment as well as severe sanctions for doing their job.
This side-event aims to specifically discuss the situation of lawyers in Belarus, Russia, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan. The discussion will extend to consider the latest developments related to the rights of lawyers and their independence in the respective countries, and what impact this has on the overall rule of law and human rights situation.
This side event will take place on 12 September 2018, from 13.00 -15.00 at Hotel Bristol, Warsaw
Moderator: Jurate Guzeviciute, Programme Lawyer, International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute
Presentations and Discussions:
Independence of the legal profession and harassment of lawyers in Eastern Europe and Central Asia:
- Tajikistan: Dilrabo Samadova, lawyer, Tajikistan
- Azerbaijan: Nijat Mammadbayli, lawyer, Azerbaijan
- Kazakhstan: Snezhanna Kim, lawyer, Kazakhstan
- Russia: Róisín Pillay, Director of the Europe Regional Programme, International Commission of Jurists
- Belarus: Anne Souléliac, Head of the Human Rights section, Paris Bar Association
Organizers: Permanent Mission of the Federal Republic of Germany to the OSCE, Permanent Representation of France to the OSCE, International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute, Paris Bar Association, International Commission of Jurists.
Poland-HDIM_Side event-News-event-2018-ENG (flyer of the event in PDF)
Sep 2, 2018 | News
On 1 and 2 September, the ICJ held a “Workshop on the Independence of the Judiciary in the Context of the Inquisitorial Judicial System in Thailand” for members of the Thai judiciary in the north of the country.
Some 31 judges from 21 courts and the Administrative Office of the Court of Justice, Region V, attended the workshop, which was held in Chiang Mai.
The objective of the workshop was to discuss the role of judges and exercise of judicial power within the inquisitorial system, particularly in the context of adjudicating cases of human trafficking.
In an effort to combat human trafficking in Thailand, the Procedures for Human Trafficking Cases Act B.E. 2559 (2016) established inquisitorial system procedures for adjudication of cases of human trafficking.
With an increasing number of cases of human trafficking in Northern Thailand, judges in Northern Thailand are increasingly required to utilize inquisitorial processes in human trafficking cases.
Courts in Thailand generally adjudicate cases based on the adversarial judicial system.
In this context, the ICJ held the workshop in collaboration with the Administrative Office of the Court of Justice, Region V, in the North of Thailand, to share information and expand collaboration between Thai and international judges about inquisitorial processes.
Justice Aree Thecharuwichit, Chief Justice of the Office of the Chief Justice, Region V, Frederick Rawski, Regional Director of ICJ Asia and the Pacific, and Justice Radmila Dragicevic-Dicic, Vice-President of the ICJ, ICJ Commissioner, Acting President of the Belgrade Court of Appeals and Judge of the Supreme Court of Serbia delivered opening statements at the Workshop.
Justice Sittipong Tanyaponprach, Chief Judge of the Office of the Chief Justice, Region I, spoke about existing procedures in Thailand’s justice system to deal with human trafficking cases under the Procedures for Human Trafficking Cases Act 2016.
Justice Marcel Lemonde, Honorary President of Chamber in France’s Court of Appeal and an International Consultant in Judicial Matters, delivered an introduction to the inquisitorial system based on the French judicial system and spoke about existing challenges in inquisitorial processes.
Justice Radmila Dragicevic-Dicic, of the Supreme Court of Serbia and ICJ Vice-President spoke about judicial practice in cases involving human trafficking and shared her experience in adjudicating human trafficking cases in Serbia.
ICJ’s Senior Legal Adviser Kingsley Abbott moderated the workshop and provided an introduction to the ICJ’s resource materials on the independence of the judiciary and judicial accountability, including the ICJ’s Practitioners’ Guide No. 13 on Judicial Accountability.
The ICJ ended the Workshop with a statement reiterating its commitment towards working with Thailand’s judiciary to strengthen the rule of law and administration of justice in Thailand.
This Workshop is the second workshop held by the ICJ for Thailand’s judiciary in the North of Thailand.
