Feb 13, 2018 | Advocacy
The ICJ, together with other NGOs, has expressed serious concerns about the current wording of the draft Copenhagen Declaration on the future of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) system, which has been proposed by the Danish government.
In a joint response to the first draft of the Copenhagen Declaration, the group of NGOs welcomed the willingness of the Danish government to engage with civil society in developing the Declaration, which is to be finalised at an intergovernmental conference in Copenhagen in April 2018.
However the NGOs expressed concerns that some of the language of the Declaration appears to diminish the role of the European Court of Human Rights, and risks fragmenting the European human rights protection system as well as undermining the independence of the Court. The NGOs emphasised that:
- The Declaration should affirm the need to respect and preserve the independence of the European Court of Human Rights, and should omit any language or proposals that put the independence of the Court at risk;
- Effective human rights protection at the national level must be subject to the supervision of the European Court of Human Rights;
- Greater emphasis should be given to the role of civil society in implementing the ECHR at the national level, and this should be taken into account in developing proposals for more effective implementation;
- The universality of human rights protection should be respected, and the text should be worded to highlight the importance of all human rights in all situations across all of the Council of Europe states;
- The Declaration must not call into question the Court’s authority to review human rights cases concerning asylum and immigration, or those arising from international conflicts;
- Governments should not be given further opportunities to influence the Court, nor should the Declaration provide a pretext for states to exert political pressure on the Court;
- Council of Europe States should not only implement the European Convention on Human Rights, but also act promptly to execute judgments of the European Court;
- National processes for the selection and election of European Court judges should be further strengthened.
Europe-JointNGO-Response-Copenhagen-Declaration-Advocacy-2018-ENG (Full document in PDF)
Jan 22, 2018 | News
The ICJ today called on the Egyptian Parliament to adopt a Draft Law on the appointment of women to the judiciary and to eliminate longstanding discrimination against their appointment as judges.
The Draft Law was introduced by member of the Parliament (MP) Nadia Henry this month and is supported by another 60 MPs.
The Speaker of Parliament has referred it to the legislative committee for review.
“Ensuring women’s full and equal participation in Egypt’s judiciary is necessary for a fair legal system reflective of the community it serves,” said Said Benarbia, ICJ MENA Director.
“It’s also necessary to end decades of discriminatory practices that have meant only a handful of women judges have ever been appointed despite explicit guarantees of equality in the Constitution,” he added.
Article 11 of the Constitution requires the State to ensure the “achievement of equality between women and men in all civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights,” including the right of “holding public and senior management offices in the state and their appointment in judicial bodies and authorities without discrimination”.
Women were first appointed to judicial office in 2007. Between 2007 and 2017 there were less than 67 female judges across Egypt, for a population of more than 100 million.
This significant under-representation of women is entrenched in a widespread discriminatory view, including within the judiciary itself, that working as a judge in court was an inappropriate profession for women.
“The Draft Law is significant first step towards challenging these discriminatory views and harmful practices. The Authorities must not only adopt it, they must also adopt other urgent, practical and structural measures to fully guarantee the rights of women to have equal access to judicial office and ensure their equal representation in the judiciary,” Benarbia added.
Background
The first article of the draft law places an obligation on all judicial bodies to appoint women to judicial offices and ensure that the conditions of their appointment are consistent with those that are applicable to men.
In its second article, the draft law nullifies any law that infringes on the obligation set forth in Article 1. Article 3 of the draft law invalidates any procedures in relation to the appointment of judges if such procedures do not comply with the Article 1 of the draft law.
Article 10 of the UN Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary provide that, “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…”.
The Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, key human rights treaties to which Egypt has been party since the early 1980s, also explicitly prohibit discrimination against women, including in relation to access to public office such as judicial appointments.
Contact
Saïd Benarbia, Director of the ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme, t: +41.22.979.3817, e: said.benarbia(a)icj.org
Egypt-women judges-news-2018-ARA
Dec 4, 2017 | News
The ICJ called today on the Polish Parliament (Sejm) to reject two draft laws that, if approved, would significantly undermine the independence of the judiciary.
The Sejm is reportedly set to approve tomorrow draft bill no. 2002 that, among other measures, will allow Parliament and the Government to appoint a majority of the members of the National Judicial Council, the institution in charge of defending the independence of the judiciary and appointing judges.
This law gives the Polish legislature and executive, which have increasingly demonstrated deep disregard for human rights and the rule of law, undue influence over the judiciary.
Additionally, draft bill no. 2003, which will also come before the Parliament for approval, will lower the age of retirement for Supreme Court judges from 70 to 65 years and allow the President of the Republic to decide which judges are to be reinstated.
“These draft laws tabled by President Duda are a direct blow to the principle of separation of powers, the bedrock of the rule of law,” said Massimo Frigo, Senior Legal Adviser with the ICJ Europe Programme. “The changes made to the draft laws rejected by the President last July have not remedied in any way their adverse implications for judicial independence”.
In July, President Andrzej Duda vetoed two draft laws approved by Parliament that would have automatically dismissed all judges of the Supreme Court and entrusted the Minister of Justice with any decision on their reappointment.
The provision on the appointment of the members of the National Judicial Council was also included in the draft laws rejected in July and has changed only with regard to the parliamentary majority needed for such appointments.
“These series of legislative attacks on the independence of the judiciary in Poland must stop. These actions are inconsistent with the international obligations of Poland to ensure the independence of judges,” said Massimo Frigo.
“If these laws are approved and enter into force, this will be a decisive blow to the rule of law in Poland. A EU Member State that directly undermines the checks and balances of its own legal system threatens the founding values of the EU of the rule of law and respect for human rights, and makes it essential that the EU intervene through its article 7 procedure.” he added.
An article 7 procedure can lead to a State losing its voting rights within the EU decision-making processes. It is triggered by the European institutions, or one third of Member States, when they consider that there is a “clear risk of a serious breach by a Member State” of EU values, among which the rule of law and human rights. It is the European Council that then decides on the exclusion, if it determines that the breach of these values is “serious and persistent”.
Contact
Massimo Frigo, ICJ Senior Legal Adviser, t: +41 22 979 3805 ; e: massimo.frigo(a)icj.org
Poland-Draft law judiciary-News-Press releases-2017-ENG (full text in PDF)
Dec 4, 2017 | News
Today, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) began a two-day mission on the reform of the legal profession in Kazakhstan.
The ICJ mission will discuss comparative experiences and international standards on the role and independence of lawyers.
The ICJ mission will include representatives of the Bar Associations of Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
The experts will have an opportunity to share their views on the reform and discuss their own country practices on the role of lawyers and institutional guarantees of the independence of the legal profession.
In Astana, the ICJ mission will meet, among others, with the Minister of Justice, the Supreme Court of Kazakhstan, members of the Parliament, the Kazakhstan Collegium of Lawyers and National Public Association of Commercial Lawyers “Kazakhstan Bar Association” (“KazBar”).
Contact:
Temur Shakirov, Senior Legal Adviser, ICJ Europe Programme, temur.shakirov(a)icj.org
Dec 1, 2017
In a new briefing paper, the ICJ expressed today concerns at the adverse impact of new legislation on the right to access to a lawyer and to a fair trial in Azerbaijan.
On 31 October 2017, the Azerbaijan Parliament adopted amendments to the Civil and Administrative Codes of Azerbaijan and the law “On lawyers and lawyers’ activity” that restrict representation in court to lawyers who are members of the Bar Association.
The amendments were signed into law on 7 November by President Ilham Aliyev and are due to enter into force on 1 January 2018.
The new legislation bans representation in courts by non-members of the Bar Association in Azerbaijan.
If implemented without a necessary and sufficient transition period, it will terminate the legal practice of many practicing lawyers without a realistic possibility to join the Bar Association and thereby continue their work.
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) is concerned that this will leave many people in Azerbaijan without access to legal assistance and representation in violation of their human rights, including the right to a fair hearing.
Azerbaijan-legalsubmission-accesstoalawyer-2017-eng (download the briefing paper)
