Jul 11, 2008
Although an independent judiciary largely functions in practice in Jamaica, it operates within an overburdened system with inadequate resources.
The government has launched a three-year reform plan to modernize and improve the court system and the effectiveness of the judiciary. Legislation was enacted in 2004 to abolish appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council and make the Caribbean Court of Justice Jamaica’s highest appellate authority.
The Privy Council declared this legislation unconstitutional in February 2005 on procedural grounds. New legislation was under discussion as of April 2005.
In March 2004, the Social Conflict and Legal Reform, a five-year-long initiative to foster mediation and alternative dispute resolution methods at both the institutional and community levels, came to an end. It succeeded in establishing mediation centres in several deprived areas.
Budgetary and political constraints have severely undermined the effectiveness and impartiality of the Police Public Complaints Authority (PPCA) in investigating alleged abuses by state security forces.
Jamaica-Attacks on Justice 2005-Publications-2008 (full text, PDF)
Jul 11, 2008
In the considered period, several scandals concerning the illegal funding of political parties and corruption within the judiciary have been widely reported in the media, as have a number of cases of attacks on judges.
Early 2004 was marked by lawyers’ strikes protesting against both the conditions in which the justice system operates and the ‘Perben laws’, part of a controversial judicial reform programme. Increasingly, lawyers as well as judges are protesting about staff shortages in courts, inadequate premises and lengthy proceedings.
France-Attacks on Justice 2005-Publications-2008 (full text, PDF)
Jul 11, 2008
After the end of a devastating civil war which began in 1991, the task of rebuilding an effective judiciary in Sierra Leone started with a focus on its geographic extension.
Jul 10, 2008
The independence of the judiciary in Colombia is seriously compromised, particularly within the Attorney General’s Office, where prosecutors are being pressured to comply with the policies of the government.
In addition, lawyers – especially human rights lawyers and defenders – are subjected to harassment, threats and persecution by the government, guerrilla and paramilitary groups, preventing them from discharging their professional duties in an independent manner.
The government has submitted several controversial proposals to Congress concerning reforms to the judiciary that undermine the role of the Constitutional Court (Corte Constitucional) and the Higher Judicial Council (Consejo Superior de la Judicatura) and could lead to the creation of a judiciary that is heavily accountable to the executive (Poder Ejecutivo).
The constant efforts of the government to push through radical legal and constitutional reforms not only undermine the independence of the judiciary but also create legal chaos.
Colombia-Attacks on Justice 2005-Publications-2008 (full text, PDF)
Jan 11, 2008
The ICJ emphasizes that nations undergoing constitutional reform processes have a unique opportunity to develop protections against sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination.
These protections are solidly grounded in international human rights law. The universality and indivisibility of this body of law is reflected in the newly-developed Yogyakarta Principles.
Nepal-Three Presentations on Nepal’s new Constitution and Fundamental Rights of Minorities-Publications-2008 (full text, PDF)
