Sep 19, 2019
ICJ’s new report – and its executive summary – on the implementation of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace, are now available in English.
The ICJ, in furtherance of its objective to promote accountability, justice and the rule of law in Colombia, has been continuously monitoring the implementation of the mechanisms and institutions created as a result of the peace negotiations between the Colombian National Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP).
Among these mechanisms and institutions, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP in its Spanish acronym) is of particular importance because it is the institution that was designed to investigate, prosecute and punish those responsible for the most serious human rights violations committed during the armed conflict in Colombia.
In June 2019, as a result of its monitoring activities, the ICJ released its report Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz: análisis a un año de su entrada en funcionamiento (Special Jurisdiction for Peace: analysis of its first year since it started functioning). The report presents the advances in the implementation of the JEP, documenting both strengths and challenges. It uses the international human rights framework as a point of reference for the national implementation of transitional justice instruments and mechanisms; and provides a description of Colombian law relevant to the JEP and a detailed analysis of the JEP’s operations and procedures. The report reflects developments up to 7 June 2019.
Considering the importance of improving the understanding of JEP’s work among non-Spanish speakers, the executive summary of the ICJ report is now available in English. The full version of the report will be available in English in the forthcoming months.
Download
Colombia-Jurisd para la paz-PUBLICATIONS-Reports-Fact-finding mission report-2019-ENG (full report in PDF)
Colombia-Jurisd para la paz Exec Summary-PUBLICATIONS-Reports-Fact-finding mission report-2019-ENG (full executive summary in PDF)
Sep 18, 2019
The ICJ has issued its Annual Report 2018, which offers a concise summary of the work carried out by the ICJ over the past year.
The ICJ’s long-standing work to uphold the international framework underlying human rights protection has never been so important as in the current climate of wholesale assault upon this framework and the very concept of the rule of law.
Many of the current challenges to human rights stem from the same issues that we have been dealing with in recent decades. However, there are also new challenges that come from States that would not have been predicted 15 years ago.
The rise of democratically elected, self-styled populist leaders who embrace and espouse authoritarian, nationalistic and xenophobic policies has led to almost unprecedented levels of licence to engage in attacks and incitement against some of the most marginalized in society, including immigrants, asylum seekers and minorities.
These leaders have also attacked human rights defenders, civil society organizations, the civilian judiciary, the media, and have arrested opposition leaders and at times have cynically used counter-terrorism laws against and military courts to try peaceful protesters.
Such practices are exquisitely antithetical to and utterly destructive of the rule of law and the rights-based system that the ICJ has sought to promote and protect over the years.
While these new challenges to human rights are particularly insidious and damaging, the ICJ is well-placed to deal with them by virtue of our unique approach which focuses on the transformative role and potential of the law, of justice institutions and of justice actors.
Our ability to influence legal and institutional reform and individual justice actors is unparalleled and this reinforces the relevance and effectiveness of the ICJ.
Accordingly, rule of law issues on the international and regional levels continued to dominate the ICJ’s core work in 2018.
As indicated in this Report, the ICJ helped to protect the European Court of Human Rights from proposed ‘reforms’ that would have undermined its ability to operate effectively, and contributed to the UN Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, which recognizes the need to observe human rights in the context of large movements of peoples.
As part of our global and regional efforts to strengthen independent and accountable judicial systems, the ICJ contributed to the elaboration of the Lilongwe Principles on the Appointment of Judicial Officers and was actively engaged with the UN Global Judicial Integrity Network.
In addition, we continued our work on traditional and customary justice systems and the opportunities they offer for enabling access to justice consistent with internationally recognized fair trial standards.
Finally, it is worth noting that 2018 marked the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Given the current climate, it is altogether fitting to recall and reflect on why this seminal document was adopted and why it envisions that human rights be protected by the rule of law.
Accordingly, the ICJ will continue to work vigorously to uphold the rule of law around the world, always mindful that what we do is ultimately intended to benefit all rights holders in all places and in all contexts.
Download
Universal-ICJ Annual Report 2018-Publications-Reports-Annual Report-2019-ENG (full report in PDF)
Sep 14, 2019
ICJ Practitioners’ Guide no. 14 Investigation and Prosecution of Potentially Unlawful Death aims to help legal practitioners ensure that potentially unlawful death is investigated in a manner that respects international human rights law and, where responsibility is identified, that appropriate measures of accountability ensue.
At the heart of the Guide is the Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death (2016), which was published by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in 2017.
The revised Minnesota Protocol (2016) is the Revised United Nations Manual on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions, the revision of which involved expertise from the International Commission of Jurists and other leading organizations.
It is a companion document to the UN Principles on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions (1989), and sets a common standard of performance in investigating potentially unlawful death and a shared set of principles and guidelines for States, as well as for institutions and individuals who play a role in death investigations.
Topics covered by the Practitioners’ Guide include:
- Potentially unlawful death and the duty to prosecute;
- The duties of states to investigate and prosecute;
- The rights of victims’ families and of witnesses;
- General principles of forensic investigation of potentially unlawful death;
- Forensic investigation of potentially unlawful death: types of evidence and the chain of custody;
- Forensic investigation of potentially unlawful death: crime scene management and victim identification;
- Forensic investigation: the autopsy;
- The effective prosecution of individuals responsible for unlawful death;
- Specific guidance for prosecutors and defence lawyers; and
- Potentially unlawful death in armed conflict.
This Practitioners’ Guide builds on earlier Guides, especially:
– The right to a remedy and reparation for gross human rights violations – 2018 update to Practitioners’ Guide no. 2
– International Law and the Fight Against Impunity: ICJ Practitioners’ Guide no. 7
– Enforced Disappearance and Extrajudicial Execution: Investigation and Sanction – ICJ Practitioners’ Guide no. 9
– Enforced Disappearance and Extrajudicial Execution: the Right of Family Members – ICJ Practitioners’ Guide no. 10
The Practitioners’ Guide would not have been possible without the financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland and was produced as part of the ICJ’s Global Accountability Initiative.
Download the full report
Universal-PG 14 Unlawful death-Publications-Reports-Practitioners Guides series-2019-ENG (PDF of English version)
Universal-PG 14 Unlawful death-Publications-Reports-Practitioners Guides series-2021-THA (PDF of Thai version)
Universal-PG 14 Unlawful death-Publications-Reports-Practitioners Guides series-2020-SPA (PDF of Spanish version
Aug 30, 2019
The purpose of the new ICJ Guide on the Enforcement and Adjudication of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR) in South Africa is to act as a resource to legal practitioners and human rights defenders on both South African constitutional standards and international human rights law standards on ESCR.
The Guide may also be useful to international human rights practitioners and domestic and international practitioners in other jurisdictions.
ICJ Commissioner Jamesina King, who formally launched the guide at Constitutional Hill in South Africa said:
“As an advocate for the protection of human rights defenders, as a member of the quasi-judicial African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and as a sitting judge in my home country Sierra Leone I am passionate about the role of such commissions, tribunals and forums in ensuring access to justice for abuses and violations of ESCR. In my view, international human rights law rightly recognizes that a right (and a corresponding obligation) without an effective remedy is not a meaningful right at all.”
While, to some extent, South African law does reflect international human rights law standards on ESCR, the specifics of international standards are practically useful to South African practitioners and human rights defenders.
The Guide can be used by judges, magistrates, advocates, lawyers, governmental administrators, legal advisors, paralegals, legal researchers, human rights defenders and academics.
Additionally, the Guide should be useful to international human rights practitioners and domestic and international practitioners in other jurisdictions.
Basing its analysis of ESCR in the present South African context, the Guide may also assist the South African government in evaluating South Africa’s compliance with its international human rights obligations. This is especially important given the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights concluding observations to South Africa issued in October 2018.
In summary, the Guide comprehensively details the following:
- How and why international human rights law must be considered in the interpretation of the South African Constitution;
- What the meaning of certain key operational provisions relating to ESCR are which are common to domestic, regional and international instruments. Such provisions include detail explanations of the meanings of:
- “progressive realization” and “immediate realization”;
- the “minimum core” obligations of states;
- “reasonableness” as an evaluation standard for rights violations; and
- the broader meaning of “available resources” both as positive budgetary obligation and a potential state defense for failing to secure ESCR.
- The implications of the need for equality and non-discrimination in access to ESCR, using examples of, in particular;
- Gendered ESCR needs and rights;
- Disability-conscious understandings of ESCR; and
- ESCR protections as specified to the circumstances of LGBTIQ persons.
- The application of ESCR obligations to “private”, “non-state” entities including but not limited to businesses.
- The remedies that are available to victims of ESCR violations on a domestic, regional and international level.
The Guide includes references to African and international standards throughout, weaving them into the sophisticated jurisprudence and body of knowledge developed in the South African context. It aims to add some value to the already large body of excellent publications on ESCR in South Africa.
Download
South Africa-Guide ESCR-Publications-Thematic Report-2019-ENG
