May 30, 2013
The ICJ today addressed the Human Rights Council, and the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, concerning the need for protection of lawyers in Viet Nam.
In an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Gabriela Knaul, the ICJ emphasised that legal aid (the subject of the Special Rapporteur’s report to the Council) is fruitless without proper protection of the legal profession. Referring to articles 16-18 of the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, the ICJ drew attention to challenges faced by human rights lawyers in Viet Nam, particularly those who have been disbarred and not allowed to practice in their work representing victims of discrimination and land confiscation.
The ICJ urged the Government of Viet Nam to extend to the Special Rapporteur an invitation to undertake a mission to Viet Nam and to cooperate with her and allow her to effectively consider these and other obstacles to the effective functioning of the legal profession in the country.
The statement was delivered under Item 3 (promotion and protection of all human rights) of the agenda of the Human Rights Council’s 23rd regular session (27 May to 14 June 2013).
VietNam-HRC23-OralStatementIJL-LegalSubmission-2013 (download ICJ oral statement)
May 29, 2013
The ICJ today addressed the Human Rights Council during its urgent debate on the situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic.
The ICJ again called for the Human Rights Council to request the UN Security Council to take effective measures at its disposal to end the ongoing conflict in Syria and to refer the situation to the International Criminal Court. Drawing attention to continued violence, gross violations of human rights and serious violations of international humanitarian law by government and anti-government forces, the ICJ reiterated its repeated calls for the international community to act and to address the humanitarian crisis.
The statement was delivered during an urgent debate on the situation in Syria held as part of the Human Rights Council’s 23rd regular session (27 May to 14 June 2013). The urgent debate concluded with the adoption of a resolution on the subject.
Syria-HRC23-UrgentDebate-OralStatement-LegalSubmission-2013 (download ICJ’s oral statement in full)
A_HRC_23_L1 (as revised and adopted) (download resolution)
Photo by Freedom House
May 28, 2013
The ICJ today addressed the Human Rights Council, and the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, concerning migrants’ rights at EU borders.
In an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Francois Crépeau, the ICJ commended the Special Rapporteur’s study concerning the external borders of the EU. It drew attention to gaps in the harmonized EU standards on the rights of persons in need of international protection; and the risk of proposed EU Regulations for Frontex sea operations to institutionalise pushback operations and to not be in line with the principle of non-refoulement. The ICJ asked the Special Rapporteur to consider whether, by divesting responsibilities to non-EU member States, EU policies can constitute a form of complicity in human rights violations.
The statement was delivered under Item 3 (promotion and protection of all human rights) of the agenda of the Human Rights Council’s 23rd regular session (27 May to 14 June 2013).
Europe-HRC23-OralStatementMigrants-LegalSubmission-2013 (download full statement in PDF)
Photo by EU Commission
May 13, 2013
The ICJ today published its recommendations on a draft law introducing changes to the disciplinary system for judges in the Russian Federation.
The ICJ considers that the Draft Law amending Articles 12-1, 14 and 15 of the Law of the Russian Federation “On the Status of Judges in the Russian Federation” includes a number of positive amendments. Nevertheless, the ICJ regrets that this opportunity has not been taken to introduce more comprehensive reforming legislation, to address the institutional, substantive and procedural weaknesses in the disciplinary system that allow for abuse and facilitate arbitrariness and inconsistency in the application of disciplinary sanctions against judges.
Russia-judicialdisciplinelaw-comment-2013-eng (download the comment in English)
Russia-judicialdisciplinelaw-comment-2013-rus (download the comment in Russian)
Apr 30, 2013
The ICJ has submitted to the Human Rights Committee information in preparation for the Committee’s examination of the initial report of Malawi under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
During its session in July 2013, the Committee is to adopt a List of Issues for the examination in 2014 of the initial report of Malawi under the ICCPR. The ICJ’s submission raises issues and suggested questions to be put to the Government of Malawi in preparation for the examination in 2014. The ICJ’s submission addresses:
- Malawi’s obligation to give effect to the provisions of the ICCPR;
- The right to life;
- The prohibition against torture and other ill-treatment;
- Conditions of detention;
- Rights to privacy and non-discrimination, focusing on the situation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons; and
- Right to family.
Malawi-HRCttee108-LOl-LegalSubmission-2013 (download submission in PDF)
