May 11, 2020
The ICJ called today on the Ukrainian authorities to take urgent measures to ensure that lawyers in Ukraine are able to work in an atmosphere free of threat, harassment or any other improper interference.
An ICJ mission report published today, Between the Rock and the Anvil: Lawyers under Attack in Ukraine, documents an alarming level of violence against Ukrainian lawyers relating to their work, and makes recommendations to the Ukrainian authorities to better uphold the security and independence of lawyers, and ensure that they are able to protect human rights.
“While the ICJ notes repeated attempts to the reform the justice system, it is highly alarming that lawyers continue to be subjected to attacks, including murder and physical abuse,” said Temur Shakirov, ICJ Senior Legal Adviser for the Europe and Central Asia Programme.
“Lawyers must be able to work in an atmosphere free of fear of reprisal for their work in defence of their clients, as required by international human rights law and international standards on the role of lawyers,” he added.
The ICJ report finds that the security of lawyers and their ability to protect the rights of their clients are under constant threat in Ukraine.
In particular, lawyers who work on politically sensitive cases or in the conflict zone face risks of attacks and harassment.
Lawyers who are subject to such attacks do not have access to effective legal remedies against the interference with their work. Even in case of killings of lawyers, the perpetrators have not been brought to justice.
The report also analyses the institutional organization and self-governance of the legal profession, the disciplinary procedure, the persecution of lawyers through legal mechanisms and the problems lawyers face in protecting human rights.
The report notes some positive developments in Ukraine, including the independence of the Ukrainian National Bar Association, as an important achievement.
“Despite recent reforms Ukraine has not yet become free from the pattern of having ‘good laws and poor practice’, which often renders the justice system dysfunctional, and undermines reforms,” Shakirov said.
“As it is possible that Ukraine may experience another whirlwind of reforms, the risk of the legislative initiatives which may aim or result in undermining the security and independence of the legal profession remains,” he added.
The report makes comprehensive recommendations for addressing the problems of attacks and harassment of lawyers and taking measures as a matter of urgency. Among the measures, the ICJ recommends measures to ensure that:
- The independence and role of lawyers is respected by all State institutions: the executive, legislative and the judiciary, by all other public authorities including law enforcement authorities, and by all participants in legal proceedings;
- Sufficient staff with adequate professional training and capacity to be able to ensure safety and security in courts is provided;
- Relevant law enforcement agencies investigate promptly and effectively all killings and attacks on lawyers with the aim of identifying those responsible and bringing them to justice in proceedings which fully respect international fair trial standards.
Background:
The report is based on research and analysis of Ukrainian law in light of international law and standards as well as the findings and conclusions of an ICJ mission (2019) to Ukraine to assess the situation of security and independence of lawyers. During the mission, the ICJ met with a range of relevant actors-individual lawyers and legal experts, non-governmental and State representatives, human rights defenders and journalists who cover legal issues.
Download:
Ukraine-Between the rock and the anvil-Publications-Reports-Mission report-2020-ENG (Report in English, PDF)
Ukraine-Lawyers under attack report-News-press releases-2020-UKR (News story in Ukrainian, PDF)
Ukraine-Between the rock and the anvil-Publications-Reports-Mission report-2020-UKR (Report in Ukrainian, PDF)
Ukraine-Between the rock and the anvil-Publications-Reports-Mission report-2020-RUS (Report in Russian, PDF)
Feb 17, 2020
Today the ICJ published a guide on Corporate Accountability for Abuses of Economic, Social & Cultural Rights in Conflict and Transition.
Around the world, businesses frequently operate in areas or regions in which armed conflict, internal disturbances or upheaval, severe authoritarianism, or other crises are either continuing or have recently ceased.
It is now common for societies seeking to move past such periods to employ transitional justice processes and mechanisms in efforts to build constitutional democracies grounded in the rule of law, protection of human rights and the fair administration of justice.
At times businesses are involved, either directly or in complicity with State agents, armed groups or other actors, in human rights violations or abuses, which occur during or after such conflicts or authoritarian settings.
These abuses may be of civil and political rights but they also often implicate economic, social and cultural rights. Failure to properly consider abuses of economic, social and cultural rights in transitional justice processes, including those caused or contributed to by businesses, can render their outcomes less effective and unsustainable.
All transitional justice processes and mechanisms must be grounded in the principles of international law.
This guide therefore sets out the core principles of international human rights law relating to: Transitional Justice; Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and Business and Human Rights, clearly describing how these three sets of principles interact and coalesce.
This guide will therefore be particular useful to transitional justice practitioners in ensuring that the design and implementation of transitional justice processes and mechanisms are fully consistent with international human rights law.
It also provides guidance to businesses in considering how to ensure compliance with international human rights law when they are operating in situations where conflict is occurring, likely to occur or recently has occurred.
In addition, because of their severe vulnerability of children to rights violations in such contexts, the guide includes a specific chapter focuses on corporate accountability for abuses of children’s rights in conflict settings.
The guide draws on examples of best practice throughout and includes case studies and examples from a wide range of countries including: Argentina; Colombia; East-Timor; Mauritius; Myanmar; Liberia; South Africa; Sierra Leone; Uganda and Tunisia.
Read also
The guide is best read with the following ICJ publications:
The ICJ’s Practitioners Guide on The Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Gross Human Rights Violations; the ICJ’s Practitioners Guide on Adjudicating Economic, Social and Cultural Rights at National Level; The ICJ & Child Rights International Network’s Practical Guide for Non-Governmental Organizations on how to use the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child’s General Comment No. 16; and the ICJ and UNICEF’s Practical Guide for States on how to implement the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child’s General Comment no. 16.
Download
Universal-ESCR accountability guide-Publications-Reports-Thematic report-2020-ENG (the full guide, in PDF)
Universal-ESCR accountability guide summary-Publications-Reports-Thematic report-2020-ENG (the executive summary and overview, in PDF)
Dec 11, 2019
Today, the ICJ released Practical Guide 1 on the adjudication of crimes under Tunisian and international law, the first guide in a four-part series on accountability for crimes under international law and the Tunisian Specialized Criminal Chambers (SCC).
Practical Guide 1 addresses the application of Tunisian law governing the penalization of crimes and modes of liability, in relation to international law and standards.
The SCC were established in 2014 to adjudicate cases involving alleged “gross human rights violations” between 1955 and 2013 referred by the Truth and Dignity Commission.
“Tunisia has obligations under international law to ensure justice for victims and combat impunity for the egregious human rights violations that were committed in the past,” said Saïd Benarbia, ICJ MENA Programme Director.
“International law is directly relevant to the work of the SCC, particularly since the gross human rights violations over which the SCC have jurisdiction are either not defined in domestic law or are defined inconsistently with the definitions under international law binding Tunisia,” he added.
The Practical Guide sets out relevant international law and correlates it to related provisions of Tunisian law.
The Guide examines the principles of legality and non-retroactivity under international law and their application in the domestic system, and conducts an analysis of the definition of crimes under domestic law vis-à-vis international law for arbitrary deprivations of life, arbitrary deprivations of liberty, torture and other ill-treatment, enforced disappearance, rape and sexual assault and crimes against humanity.
Although the transitional justice framework governing the SCC gives judges some tools to remedy the gaps and inconsistencies in domestic law, legislative reform is needed to ensure Tunisia is in compliance with its obligation to penalize crimes under international law and investigate, prosecute and remedy them whenever they are committed, whether pre- or post-2011.
“Tunisian legislators gave the SCC the mandate to adjudicate gross human rights violations but haven’t remedied all the gaps and inconsistencies in the domestic law the SCC were tasked with applying,” said Valentina Cadelo, ICJ MENA Programme Associate Legal Adviser.
“Tunisian authorities must now take steps to reform the law to guarantee that all perpetrators of gross human rights violations can be held criminally responsible in any Tunisian court,” she added.
Practical Guide 1 aims to:
- Explain international law relevant to the SCC, including the application of the principles of legality and non-retroactivity, statutory limitations and crimes under international law, to guarantee justice for victims of gross human rights violations and hold perpetrators accountable, while meeting international fair trial standards.
- Correlate domestic definitions of crimes with the definitions of crimes under international law applicable at the time the alleged conduct occurred.
- Describe the requirement that penalties applied upon conviction be based in law and correspond to the gravity of the crimes.
Contact
Saïd Benarbia, Director of the ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme, t: +41.22.979.3817, e: said.benarbia(a)icj.org
Valentina Cadelo, ICJ Associate Legal Adviser, t: +21671962287, e: valentina.cadelo(a)icj.org , twitter: @ValentinaCadelo
Download
Tunisia-Accountability series-Publications-Reports-Thematic reports-2019-ENG (full report in English, PDF)
Tunisia-Accountability series-News-2019-ARA (full story in Arabic, PDF)
Tunisia-Accountability series-Publications-Reports-Thematic reports-2019-ARA (full report in Arabic, PDF)
Dec 11, 2019
Today, the ICJ launched its report Dictating the Internet: Curtailing Free Expression, Opinion and Information Online in Southeast Asia at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand (FCCT).
The report looked at selected legal frameworks and case studies across ten countries in the region – mapping out a general pattern of abuse of legal frameworks by governments in Southeast Asia to restrict and control content online to the detriment of individuals’ rights to freedom of expression, opinion and information.
This trend is not new. Southeast Asian governments have, for decades, crafted and enforced the law to curtail expression and information.
Laws enacted before the internet era – including those prohibiting defamation, lèse-majesté, sedition, contempt of court or crimes against the State – have been repurposed or supplemented to censor expression and information online.
More recent laws that have been introduced purportedly to regulate information online, control the spread of disinformation, ensure cybersecurity and justify internet shutdowns have been used for the same aims.
Multiple commonalities are evident in these legal frameworks. They commonly include:
- Vague, overbroad legal provisions;
- Severe and disproportionate penalties;
- Lack of independent oversight mechanisms; and
- Failure to provide effective remedy or accountability.
Conceptions of “national security” and “public order” have been conflated with the perceived interests of the ruling government or other powerful interests to target specific expression.
Emerging laws allow for extraterritorial application, and in some cases, seek to extend their reach beyond public expression, to private communications.
These frameworks do not advance legitimate aims or do not do so in accordance with applicable principles of legitimacy, necessity and proportionality, in violation of international law.
The report concludes by reasserting that international human rights law not only remains relevant, but that its application is needed, now more than ever in the digital age, to protect the exercise of rights online as well as offline.
The report argues that respect for human rights is essential for ensuring that all members of the global community can fully enjoy and exercise their freedom of expression, opinion and information, and that legislation framed in human rights terms is also the best and most effective way to protect against the very real threats posed by the spread of hate speech, disinformation online, cyber-attacks and other cybercrimes.
It calls for States in Southeast Asia to repeal, amend or otherwise rectify existing legal and regulatory frameworks to bring them in line with their international obligations.
The report launch included a panel discussion, which drew together human rights defenders, artists, journalists, lawyers and civil society who spoke to their experiences of being targeted by governments for their activities online, and about the impact of new laws and policies being enacted in the region to police expression on social media and through other new technologies.
The discussion was moderated by Gwen Robinson, editor-at-large of Nikkei Asian Review and President of the FCCT, and included as panelists:
- Frederick Rawski, ICJ Asia and the Pacific Director
- Ma Thida, Burmese surgeon, writer, human rights activist and former political prisoner
- Zunar, Malaysian political cartoonist
- Jolovan Wham, Singaporean civil and labour rights activist
- Sutharee Wannasiri, Thai human rights activist
Contact
Frederick Rawski, ICJ Asia and the Pacific Director, frederick.rawski@icj.org
Round-table discussion
Before the report launch, the ICJ conducted a closed-door roundtable discussion on ‘Enhancing protection of human rights online in Southeast Asia’ at the Sukosol Hotel in Bangkok.
The discussion brought together experts, advocates and researchers working in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and human rights sectors to identify key challenges faced in ensuring human rights protections online, and preliminarily consider potential policy solutions towards ensuring greater protections.
15 representatives from the private and civic tech sectors, digital rights advocates, civil society and researchers focused on the intersection between human rights protection and ICT participated in the discussion.
Download
Southeast Asia-Dictating the Internet-Publications-Reports-Thematic reports-2019-ENG (full report in English)
Myanmar-Dictating-The-Internet-Report-2021-BUR.pdf (full report in Burmese)
Nov 29, 2019
The ICJ today publishes an expanded and updated version of Indigenous and Other Traditional or Customary Justice Systems: selected international sources.
The compilation is a unique practical resource for practitioners in official State justice systems and indigenous, traditional or customary systems.
It is also intended to assist other community members, government officials, development practitioners, civil society organizations, and academic and other professionals who engage with such justice systems.
The compilation is being published as part of an ongoing project on the relationship between indigenous and other traditional or customary justice systems and human rights, access to justice, and the rule of law.
Among the sources included in the compilation are global and regional treaty provisions, UN and other declarations, and the jurisprudence and recommendations of Committees and Special Procedures established by treaties and the UN Human Rights Council.
The sources are organized by themes including the rights of women, rights of children, the role of judges and lawyers and the administration of justice, the rights of indigenous peoples, the rights of minorities, and transitional justice.
This revised edition incorporates new developments since 2018, including the landmark report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and expands to cover certain topics more comprehensively, particularly with respect to indigenous rights.
The ICJ’s multi-year project has included global and Asia-Pacific and Africa regional consultations, and continues in 2020 with a concluding Global Forum in Geneva, and culminating with the publication by ICJ of detailed legal and practical guidance.
The guidance will seek to assist all actors involved in implementation and assessment of relevant targets of Sustainable Development Goal 16 on access to justice for all and effective, accountable and inclusive institutions, as well as Goal 5 on gender equality, including: decision-makers and other participants in traditional and customary justice systems; judges, lawyers and prosecutors operating in official justice systems; other government officials; development agencies; United Nations and other inter-governmental organizations; and civil society.
The initial version of the compilation was published in January 2018 under the title Traditional and Customary Justice Systems: Selected International Sources.
Contact
Matt Pollard, Senior Legal Adviser, matt.pollard@icj.org
Download
Universal-Trad Custom Justice Compil updated-Publications-2019-ENG (updated and expanded version of the compilation, in PDF)
Cover Photo: Traditional leaders preside over a case in B-Court, Nyang Payam, Torit County, South Sudan. Photo Credit: UNDP South Sudan2016Angelique Reid ©2016 United Nations
