Nov 25, 2016 | Advocacy
The ICJ today joined a group of 60 organizations condemning a new law that would further repress civil society organizations and human rights advocacy in the country, and calling on the Government to stop efforts to silence civil society.The NGO statement follows urgent warnings from the UN Special Rapporteurs on Freedom of Association, on Freedom of Expression, and on Human Rights Defenders that, if implemented, the law would “devastate” civil society in the country.
The full NGO statement can be downloaded in PDF format here: egypt-ngolaw-openletter-2016
Nov 24, 2016
In April and July this year, the ICJ and four other NGOs filed two sets of written submissions with the Constitutional Court of Romania in the case of Coman Relu Adrian, Hamilton Robert Clabourn and Association Accept v. General Inspectorate for Immigration and Ministry of Home Affairs.
The case concerns the Romanian authorities’ refusal to recognize either de facto or de jure the same-sex marriages of migrant EU citizens with third-country nationals.
In their original original third-party intervention of April 2016, the ICJ, the AIRE Centre, ECSOL, FIDH and ILGA-EUROPE argued that such refusal violates relevant EU law and the European Convention on Human Rights.
In their supplementary intervention, filed in July 2016, the five NGOs made additional written submissions to the Constitutional Court of Romanian in light of the judgment by the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Taddeucci and McCall v. Italy of 30 June 2016.
romania-cc-joint-amicus-re-third-country-national-spouse-legal-submissions-april-2016-eng
romania-cc-joint-amicus-re-third-country-national-spouse-legal-submissions-july-2016-eng
Nov 21, 2016 | News
Forty distinguished judges and lawyers from around the world have reaffirmed the essential role of judges and lawyers in securing the rule of law and human rights in relation to large movements of refugees and migrants, at the 7th annual ICJ Geneva Forum, 17-18 November 2016.
The 2016 Forum concluded with substantial agreement and reaffirmation of the essential role that judges and lawyers must be enabled to play, and must fulfil in practice, if the rights of refugees and migrants and the rule of law are to be secured, including in the context of large movements.
Participants exchanged challenges and solutions, and deliberated on a wide range of issues, including:
- on methods for best assessing evidence and credibility;
- on means for overcoming the legal, policy, and practical challenges when judges and lawyers face large numbers of claims and cases;
- on reforms to better enable immigration judges to meet basic standards of independence and impartiality;
- on the need for judiciaries and legal professions to ensure practitioners receive appropriate training and better access to information about international standards and reliable information about country situations;
- on the importance of effective access to competent legal advice and representation, including free of charge when necessary, for refugees and migrants to be able to exercise their rights and for judges to be able to decide cases in an efficient and just manner;
- on ways of supporting judges who courageously exercise their independence to uphold the rule of law and human rights, including in the face of interference or reprisal from the executive or legislative branches of government, or intense media criticism or majoritarian pressure;
- on ensuring that refugees and migrants who are victims of crime or victims of human rights violations are able to have effective access to justice and effective remedy, without discrimination arising from their status;
- on the importance of ensuring that legal processes are sensitive to the particular situation of women and children migrants, and migrants in detention.
Based on the discussions,the ICJ will develop and disseminate a set of Principles and recommendations on the role of judges and lawyers in situations of large-scale movement of refugees and migrants. The Principles will complement ICJ’s 2011 Practitioners’ Guide No 6 on Migration and International Human Rights Law.
More information about the Geneva Forum is available here.
For further details, please contact Matt Pollard, senior legal adviser, matt.pollard(a)icj.org
The 2016 Geneva Forum has been made possible with the support of the Republic and Canton of Geneva.
The ICJ is also grateful for the assistance of the Le Centre d’Accueil – Genève Internationale (CAGI) and Swiss Confederation.
Nov 21, 2016 | Advocacy, News
The ICJ and five other human rights groups are calling on the Malaysian authorities to drop all charges against the Bersih organizers and activists, return all items confiscated from their offices and stop making further arbitrary arrests in connection with these events.
Download the statement here:
malaysia-bersih-5-statement-advocacy-2016-eng (full text in PDF)
Nov 19, 2016 | Advocacy
Ten years after the Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) ended Nepal’s bloody civil war, Nepali authorities must renew their commitment to ensure truth, justice and reparation for victims of the conflict who are still waiting for redress, the ICJ said today.
The CPA, signed by the Government of Nepal and the country’s major political parties, including the then Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) on 21 November 2006, called for a credible transitional justice process that would ensure victims’ rights to truth, justice, reparation and effective remedy in accordance with Nepal’s international human rights obligations.
“The hope and promise to conflict victims towards fulfillment of their rights to truth, justice and reparation that came with the signing of the CPA and the end of the conflict ten years ago have yet to be realized,” said Sam Zarifi, ICJ Asia director.
“Over the last ten years, various governments from all the different parties have blocked or hindered the transitional justice process, ignoring rulings by the Supreme Court that demanded compliance with international law and standards,” he added.
The full statement can be downloaded here:
nepal-statement-cpa-anniversary-advocacy-2016-eng (full text in PDF)
