International Commission of Jurists
ICJ Review no. 53 (December 1994)

ICJ Review no. 53 (December 1994)

Dec 1, 1994

The purpose of the Review is to focus attention on the problems in regard to which lawyers can make their contribution to society in their respective areas of influence and to provide them with the necessary information and data.

This edition features:

  • Articles:
    • -UN peace-building and human rights, by Reed Brody
    • -Two examples of battling impunity in Chile, by Alejandro Salinas Rivera
    • -The judgement of India’s Supreme Court on the constitutional validity of the TADA Acts, by Fali S. Nariman
    • -Features of the administration of justice under Palestinian rule, by Mona Rishmawi
    • -The role of the NGOs in the battle against discrimination, by Alejandro Artucio
  • Commentaries:
    • -Human rights and their treatment in the 1994 General Assembly and Permanent Council of the OAS
    • -The 46th Session of the United Nations Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities
  • Basic texts:
    • -Inter-American Convention on the Forced Disappearance of Persons
    • -Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women

ICJ Review-53-1994-eng (full text in English, PDF)
ICJ Review-53-1994-spa (full text in Spanish, PDF)

ICJ Review no. 52 (June 1994)

ICJ Review no. 52 (June 1994)

Jun 1, 1994

The purpose of the Review is to focus attention on the problems in regard to which lawyers can make their contribution to society in their respective areas of influence and to provide them with the necessary information and data.

This edition features articles on:

  • Human rights in the world:
    • -Bahrain
    • -Bolivia
    • -Iraq
    • -Mexico
  • Articles:
    • -Resettlement or repatriation: screened-out Vietnamese child asylum seekers and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, by Daniel O’Donnell
    • -Rethinking Bosnia and Herzegovina’s right of self defence: a comment by Winston P. Nagan
    • -Towards the international responsibility of the UN in human rights violations during “peace-keeping” operations: the case of Somalia, by Willy Lubin
    • -Equality: between hegemony and subsidiarity by Eric Heinze
  • Commentary:
    • -The UN Commission on Human Rights:50th Session
  • Judicial application of the rule of law:
      • -Aloeboetoe

et al. 

    • vs. Republic of Suriname: a judgement of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
  • Basic texts:
    • -Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities
    • -The Madrid Principles on the Relationship between the Media and Judicial Independence
    • -Towards a professional, independent and effective Arab human rights movement – closing statement of a workshop held between 5-7 January 1994 in Amman, Jordan

ICJ Review-52-1994-eng (full text in English, PDF)
ICJ Review-52-1994-spa (full text in Spanish, PDF)

Jurists set principles on the media and the judiciary

Jurists set principles on the media and the judiciary

Apr 1, 1994 | News, Publications

The ICJ’s Centre for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers have concluded a three-day seminar on the relationship between the media and the judiciary in Madrid.

The seminar is part of an on-going study on the independence of the judiciary and the legal profession.

Lawyers, judges and journalists from Spain and different regions of the world gathered in Madrid to focus on the relationship between the media and the judiciary. The object has been to draft principles destined to facilitate a relationship that would enhance both the necessity of a free press and the independence of the judiciary. The debate also concentrated on the right of the accused, especially minors, to privacy and the presumption of innocence.

Many different angles were taken into consideration. They included the impact of publicity on judicial proceedings, the emergence of increasingly global and transnational modes of communication and their impact on judicial procedures, the relation between ethics and judicial independence, the restraints which may be necessary for the proper administration of justice, media criticism of judges and judicial decisions as well as in-depth perspectives of these issues in countries such as Brazil, the United Kingdom, France, Ghana, Jordan, India and Australia.

These principles fill a gap which is increasingly highlighted by the progress made in contemporary modes of dissemination of information. The principles are attached herewith.

madrid principles on media and judicial independence-publication-1994-eng (full text in English, PDF)

The Madrid Principles on the Relationship between the Media and Judicial Independence

The Madrid Principles on the Relationship between the Media and Judicial Independence

Feb 1, 1994 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions

A group of 40 distinguished legal experts and media representatives, convened by the ICJ’s Centre for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, and the Spanish Committee of UNICEF, met in Madrid, Spain, between 18 – 20 January 1994.

The objectives of the meeting were

  • to examine the relationship between the media and judicial independence as guaranteed by the 1985 UN Basic Principles on the Independence of Judiciary;
  • to formulate principles addressing the relationship between freedom of the expression and judicial independence.

The Basic Principle is as follows:

  1. Freedom of expression (including freedom of the media) constitutes one of the essential foundations of every society which claims to be democratic. It is the function and right of the media to gather and convey information to the public and to comment on the administration of justice, including cases before, during and after trial, without violating the presumption of innocence.
  2. This principle can only be departed from in the circumstances envisaged in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as interpreted by the 1984 Siracusa Principles on the Limitation and Derogation Provisions in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (U.N. Document E/CN.4/1984/4).
  3. The right to comment on the administration of justice shall not be subject to any special restrictions.

The document contains the Principles, an Annex: Strategies for Implementation, the List of Participants at the Seminar and extracts from the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and from the Syracusa Principles on the Limitation and Derogation Provisions in the ICCPR.

Madrid Principles Media Judicial Independence-non-legal submission-1994-eng (full text in English, PDF)

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