Dec 5, 2008
At its World Congress, the ICJ adopted the Declaration and Plan of Action on Upholding the Rule of Law and the Role of Judges and Lawyers in Times of Crisis.
The Declaration reaffirms the essential role of judges and lawyers in safeguarding the Rule of Law and human rights during a range of crises, including public emergencies, armed conflict, political instability, terrorism and social, economic or financial upheaval.
It sets out 13 fundamental principles, which reflect fundamental and well recognized Rule of Law and human rights standards, to be upheld by governments and the legal community in crisis situations.
These include protection of the independence of judges and lawyers, and guarantees of fair administration of justice, including the right to a fair trial and effective remedy
ICJ Declaration and Plan of Action-Position papers-2008-Eng (full text, PDF)
ICJ Declaration and Plan of Action-Position papers-2008-French (full text, PDF)
ICJ Declaration and Plan of Action-Position papers-2008-Spanish (full text, PDF)
Dec 1, 2008 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
The ICJ urges all parties to the armed conflict in the East of the DRC to protect civilians from human rights and international humanitarian law violations, including from rape.
The Government is responsible for upholding the principle of command responsibility and accountability for abuses, which requires the operation of independent and ordinary courts and tribunals and bolstering the cooperation with the International Criminal Court.
Democratic Republic of Congo-ICJ Intervention on the Situation of Human Rights-non-legal submission-2008 (full text, PDF)
Nov 25, 2008 | News
The ICJ is urging the Constituent Assembly to adopt a series of amendments to ensure compliance of the Bill on Disappearances Act with human rights obligations.
The proposed Disappearances Bill would criminalize the act of enforced disappearance, establish a commission to investigate past cases from 1996-2006, and provide for prosecution of perpetrators and reparations for victims. However, these laudable steps could be undermined in practice by weaknesses in certain provisions.
Nepal-The ICJ urges human rights amendments-Press releases-2008 (full text, PDF)
Nepal-ICJ letter to speaker-Open letters-2008-Eng (full text, PDF)
Nepal-ICJ letter to speaker-Open letters-2008-Nep (full text, PDF)
Nov 14, 2008 | Events
At the Conference on Systematic Work for Human Rights Implementation, the ICJ underscored the civil society’s dual role in terms of assessment of implementation of human rights norms as well as assistance to States in this regard.
According to the ICJ, the development of international norms has not been accomplished once and forever.
As an example, it pointed to a need to develop norms to extend the obligations to respect and ensure human rights also to businesses. On the other hand, the UN Universal Periodic Review and the system of treaty monitoring bodies should play a more meaningful role to help States ensure full compliance with human rights standards.
ICJ Intervention on Systematic Work for Human Rights Implementation-Events-2008 (full text, PDF)
Nov 11, 2008 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
The ICJ submits its comments to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of “the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”.
In this submission the ICJ is drawing the Working Group on the UPR’s and the Human Rights Council’s attention to the frequent allegations of ill-treatment by police either during arrest or in police custody, and the lack of adequate investigations into such allegations. In addition, the Working Group should address the Macedonian Government’s failure to provide for a thorough and independent investigation into the detention at the Macedonian border of Mr Khaled El-Masri, and his subsequent transfer to Afghanistan under the CIA rendition programme.
Macedonia-ICJ Submission to the Universal Periodic Review-non-legal submission-2008 (full text, PDF)
