The ICJ, given the responsibility by the European Economic Community of supervising the electoral process in Madagascar, will deploy 68 observers to monitor the first round of presidential elections on 25 November.
The ICJ will begin sending the observers to polling areas on 22 November. The observers – judges, lawyers and law professors – come mainly from Europe and Africa.
Most of these jurists have already participated in the process by observing the 19 August referendum which led to the adoption of the Constitution for the Third Malagasy Republic.
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), headquartered in Geneva, is a non-governmental organization in consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, UNESCO, the Council of Europe and the OAU. Founded in 1952, its task is to defend the Rule of Law throughout the world and to work towards the full observance of the provisions in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The ICJ has been a driving force behind the adoption of numerous international declarations and standards including the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, the UN Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary, the European Convention Against Torture and the African Charter of Human and Peoples’ Rights. It is composed of 31 distinguished jurists from around the globe and has 75 national sections and affiliated organizations.
