May 19, 2009 | News
“There is a continuing and acute need for the Human Rights Council to act on Sri Lanka notwithstanding a reported end of fighting between the Sri Lankan Army and the Tamil Tigers.”
“Even though the fighting may have dissipated, any nation’s reconstruction requires respect for international law, accountability and the rule of law principles, which today remain largely absent in the wake of this lengthy conflict,” said Wilder Tayler, Acting Secretary-General of the ICJ.
SriLanka-UNCouncilspecialsessions-news-2009 (full text, PDF)
Apr 6, 2009 | Events
Initial widespread support for the US-lead ‘War on Terror’ in response to the 9/11 attacks has diminished markedly. What does this mean for Africa?
In fact, counter-terrorism today has a less-than-honourable reputation, conjuring images of extra-judicial renditions, unlawful and indefinite detention, and torture.
However recent developments indicate that change is coming to the way the world – and Africa – combats terrorism. President Obama has already ordered an end to several unlawful US-lead practices; in Europe and other regions courts are reminding governments about the importance of human rights and due process. Rather than falling primarily within the domain of spies and the military, criminal justices responses will become increasingly important.
Is Africa ready for this change? The ICJ and the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) are organizing an evening reception to explore these questions and launch the recent report of the ICJ’s Eminent Jurists Panel on Terrorism, Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights.
Africa-terrorism-news-2009 (full text, PDF)
May 21, 2008 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
In defining the scope of a follow-on mandate the ICJ urges the HRC to broaden the focus beyond the elaboration of the “protect, respect, and remedy” framework.
The HRC must also include an explicit capacity to examine situations of corporate abuse, the ICJ says.
HRC-statement-advocacy-2011 (full text, PDF)
Mar 20, 2007 | News
Experience from around the world has shown that in such acute situations as in Sri Lanka, a professional, impartial and international human rights field operation can play a significant role.
Sep 1, 2006 | News
The ICJ today mourned the passing of one of its Commissioners, Lord Robin Cooke of Thorndon, from New Zealand.
Lord Cooke was a highly-respected New Zealand jurist. He was elected to the ICJ in 1993 and was re-elected for two additional terms. Lord Cooke served as Lord of Appeal in the United Kingdom House of Lords from 1996, and was a member of the Privy Council from 1977. His prestigious career also included service as President of New Zealand’s Court of Appeal from 1986 to 1996, as a judge of that court from 1976 to 1986, and as a judge of the Supreme Court of New Zealand from 1972 to 1976. Lord Cooke retired in 2001.
On numerous occasions, Lord Cooke also sat as an Appellate Justice in a number of Asia-Pacific jurisdictions, among them, the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal, the Fiji Supreme Court and the Courts of Appeal of Samoa and Kiribati. He was a life member of Law Asia, the American Law Institute, the English Bar, and the International Bar Association.
An experienced and well-respected international lecturer, Lord Cooke contributed to furthering the mission of the ICJ, including by writing and lecturing on the importance for upholding the rule of law of an independent judiciary, and, on the role of the judiciary in upholding human rights and democracy.
The ICJ expressed its condolences to the family of Lord Cooke.
