Fact Finding Mission Archives | Page 4 of 16 | International Commission of Jurists

Morocco: judicial reform must be comprehensive and meaningful

Nov 21, 2013

The ICJ today called on the Moroccan authorities to ensure comprehensive and meaningful reform of the judiciary.

The statement comes as the ICJ concluded a high-level mission to Morocco and launched its report Reforming the Judiciary in Morocco, on 21 November 2013.

The ICJ said that reforms should aim at putting an end to any form of undue influence or control by the executive over judicial matters. It called for the reinforcement of the authority of the newly established Conseil Supérieur du Pouvoir Judiciaire (CSPJ) over all aspects of the careers of both judges and prosecutors.

The ICJ stressed that the Office of the Public Prosecutor (OPP) should be kept independent of the judiciary and that it must carry out its activities objectively, impartially and in defence of human rights.

The organization also urged that the jurisdiction of military courts be restricted to military personnel for breaches of military discipline, and that by no means should military courts be used to try crimes consisting of human rights violations.

“The ICJ welcomes efforts by the Moroccan authorities to expand the competencies of the CSPJ over matters relating to the career of judges, including their nomination, promotion and disciplinary proceedings,” said Justice Kalthoum Kennou, ICJ Commissioner and judge at the Tunisian Cassation Court. “However, in elaborating the new laws relating to the judiciary, the Moroccan authorities must ensure that the legislation does not undermine, but instead reinforces, the independence of the judiciary in a manner that makes it an effective authority for the fair administration of justice.”

The ICJ emphasized that the new laws should provide clear and objective criteria for the members of the CSPJ who are either elected or appointed by the King and should ensure that the CSPJ has financial and administrative autonomy and plays a meaningful role in budgeting for the judiciary.

The organization also called for the elaboration and adoption of a comprehensive code of judicial ethics, in line with international standards, to serve as basis to ensure judicial accountability in Morocco.

The ICJ said that it considered that the reform of the judicial system in Morocco must include the reform of the OPP.

The Minister of Justice should have no authority over the OPP, including the careers of individual prosecutors. Since prosecutors are part of the judicial corps, guarantees of security of tenure should be extended to prosecutors.

The nature and scope of any power by hierarchical superiors to issue written instructions to prosecutors should be defined in law. Political authorities should be precluded from issuing instructions pertaining to individual cases, such as those aimed at preventing an investigation from proceeding to court.

The ICJ also indicated that meaningful reform of the judiciary must include the military justice system.

“The Moroccan authorities must ensure that civilians are not tried before military courts and that the jurisdiction of these courts is limited to trials of members of the military in cases involving alleged breaches of military discipline,” said Said Benarbia, Senior Legal Adviser for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Programme of the ICJ. “Where military courts are used, they must respect all aspects of the right to a fair trial, including the requirement of adequate time and facilities for the preparation of defence, access to materials that the prosecution intends to rely on in court, and the right of appeal of the conviction and sentence by the military court to a higher civilian tribunal.”

Contact:

Said Benarbia, ICJ Senior Legal Adviser of the Middle East and North Africa Programme, tel: 41 22 979 38 17, e-mail: said.benarbia@icj.org

Additional information:

During its mission, the delegation met with: Mr. Mustapha Ramid, Minister of Justice; Mr. Driss Dahak, Secretary General of the Government; Mr. Karim Ghellab, President of the House of Deputies; Mr. Mohamed Cheikh Biadillah, President of the House of Counsellors; Mr. Mustapha Farès, President of the Cassation Court; Mr. Abdelhalim Wahbi, President of the Commission on Justice, Legislation and Human Rights of the House of Deputies. The ICJ also met with representatives of the judiciary, the legal profession and civil society.

The delegation was composed of Kalthoum Kennou, ICJ Commissioner and judge at the Cassation Court in Tunisia, Said Benarbia, Senior Legal Adviser for the MENA Programme of the ICJ and Laura Torre, Programme Officer for the MENA Programme.

Morocco-Reforming the Judiciary-publications-reports-2013 (full text in pdf)

ICJ Report: the crisis in judicial leadership in the Kingdom of Lesotho

Sep 1, 2013

The ICJ organized a high level mission to the Kingdom of Lesotho in March 2013 to gather facts concerning a crisis in judicial leadership in this country.

The dispute emerged from a dispute between the office of the Chief Justice, presently occupied by the Honourable Justice M Lehohla1, and the office of the President of the Court of Appeal, presently occupied by the Honourable Justice M Ramodibedi, over the issue of which of them is the head of the judiciary.

The mission team’s objective was also to make recommendations on possible solutions to the crisis.

The ICJ considers that a resolution of this crisis is necessary to bring about harmony in the administration of justice in Lesotho, to facilitate access to justice, to protect the independence of the judiciary and to preserve public confidence in Lesotho’s judicial institutions.

The full mission report can be downloaded below.

Lesotho-Crisis judicial leadership-Publications-Mission report-2014-ENG (full text in pdf)

Human rights and administration of justice: obligations unfulfilled

Jun 27, 2003

This report contains the findings of a Mission to Nepal sent by the ICJ’s Center for the Independence of the Judges and Lawyers.

The mission’s mandate was to examine the functioning of the administration of justice in Nepal, including the existing legal framework and actual practice, and to evaluate the effectiveness of judicial and administrative implementation of international standards.

The mission also sought to evaluate the impact of recent Nepalese law and practice on the fulfilment of Nepal’s international human rights obligations. Some of the particular areas of question and concern were whether there existed effective means to challenge unlawful or arbitrary detention, such as habeas corpus; the implications of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Control and Punishment) Act (TADA) and other legislation used in context of countering the ongoing Maoist insurgency; the practice of torture of detainees by the authorities and the adequacy and effectiveness of means to prevent and remedy incidents of torture and other illtreatment; the extent to which judges were willing or able to carry out their professional functions independently and impartially; allegations of harassment of lawyers in the country, including cases of arbitrary detention and violent assault. The Mission also sought to gather information with a view to determining, on a preliminary basis, Nepal’s capacity building needs in the area of administration of justice.

Nepal-human rights and administration of justice-fact finding mission-2003-eng (full text in English, PDF)

Fact-finding mission to the Kingdom of Swaziland

Jun 10, 2003

Threats to judicial independence, in violation of international human rights standards, are deeply rooted and routine in Swaziland, states the ICJ’s Centre for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers in a report released today.