Jul 26, 2010 | Events
The ICJ is organizing two-day trial observation training seminars on 4-5 October in Moscow and 7-8 October in Saint Petersburg.
The seminar aims to provide practical skills on how to conduct trial observations, how to assess and analyse information and data obtained, and how to draft a final trial observation report.
The seminar will address the legislative frameworks within which courts operate, including:
- the structure and functioning of the judiciary;
- the compliance of these frameworks with international rule of law and human rights standards;
- the components and guarantees of the right to fair trial;
- observing proceedings within the courtroom; and
- the conduct of meetings with the relevant authorities and other advocacy work outside the courtroom.
Participants will be introduced to international standards of trial observations with a special focus on judicial independence.
Criteria for eligibility:
- The call for applications is open to judges, lawyers (whether in private practice or affiliated to an NGO), NGO representatives, and other interested professionals. A total of 15 participants will be selected.
- Applicants must have a demonstrated interest in the rule of law and human rights law
- Applicants must have an interest in international standards of trial observation
- The working language of the seminars is Russian
Closing date for applications: 15 September 2010.
Application forms can be downloaded below.
For any further information please contact Róisín Pillay at roisin.pillay@icj.org or Temur Shakirov at temur.shakirov@icj.org
Russian Federation-application form Moscow-event-2010 (full text in Russian, PDF)
Russian Federation-application form Saint Petersburg-event-2010 (full text in Russian, PDF)
Russian Federation-trial observation training-event-2010 (full text in Russian, PDF)
Russian Federation-trial observation training-event-2010 (full text in English, PDF)
Jul 16, 2010
The ICJ and other human rights groups intervened as a third party in the case of Bayatyan v Armenia, concerning the right of conscientious objectors not to perform compulsory military service.
The interveners argued that rights to freedom of thought, conscience and religion under Article 9 ECHR requires recognition of conscientious objection and provision of alternatives to compulsory military service.
Armenia-written comments NGOs-legal submission-2010 (full text in English, PDF)
Photo by Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia
Jul 2, 2010
The ICJ and other human rights groups submitted an intervention in Schalk & Kopf v. Austria case.
In Schalk & Kopf v. Austria, the European Court of Human Rights held that the denial of a marriage license to a same-sex couple did not run counter to Austria’s obligations under Article 12 of the European Convention, but the Court did hold for the first time that an unmarried same-sex couple without children constituted a family for the purposes of privacy under Article 8. Moreover, three of the judges held that there was a violation of Article 8 in conjunction with Article 14.
Austria-case Schalk Kopf-judgement-2010 (full text in English, PDF)
Austria-written comment-legal submission-2010 (full text in English, PDF)
Jul 2, 2010
Irina Fedotova was convicted under a law that criminalizes propaganda of homosexuality among minors. She was holding a sign near a school that declared she was proud of her homosexuality. The ICJ’s submission to the Human Rights Committee analyses limitations on freedom of expression in light of the requirement of non-discrimination under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Russian Federation-ICJ opinion Oblast law-legal submission-2010 (full text in English, PDF)
Jul 2, 2010
Front Line’s and ICJ’s views to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in advance of the Committee’s consideration of the 6th and 7th Periodic Reports of the Russian Federation.
Russian Federation-consideration periodic reports-legal submission-2010 (full text in English, PDF)
