Dec 23, 2016
The ICJ today called on the Moroccan authorities to develop and adopt, in close consultation with the associations of judges, a Code of Ethics and Judicial Conduct that is fully consistent with international standards on judicial independence and accountability.
The statement came following a high-level mission to Morocco from 19 to 21 December 2016, during which the ICJ engaged with members of the Conseil supérieur du pouvoir judiciaire (CSPJ) and the judiciary on the reforms needed with a view to developing standards of conduct that are in line with the Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct and the UN Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary.
The ICJ submitted to the Moroccan authorities and published a memo analyzing and formulating recommendations on the content of the Judicial Code of Ethics, the procedure of its adoption, the composition and functions of the Judicial Ethics Board, and the flaws in in the laws on the CSPJ and on the Statute for Judges regarding the disciplinary system.
“The development of a Judicial Code of Ethics that is consistent with international standards is an important opportunity to reinforce judicial independence and to ensure that the judiciary remain accountable to the public it serves,” said Said Benarbia, ICJ Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme.
The ICJ is calling for the development of a Code that contain ethical duties that do not undermine a judge’s human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right to the freedom of expression and association.
It is important not only for the judges themselves, but for the public at large, that the voices of judges are heard regarding in particular questions concerning the administration of justice.
The ICJ considers that the obligations contained in the Code must be precisely defined in order to give judges notice of the types of conduct they should undertake or abstain from.
This is particularly important given the vague and imprecise definitions of disciplinary offences as provided for by the law on the Statute for Judges.
The ICJ calls on the Moroccan authorities to review the provisions on disciplinary offences, including by ensuring that they do not unnecessarily restrict the enjoyment of fundamental freedoms by the Moroccan judges, and that they also include judicial violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, as well as offences of serious judicial corruption.
In the interim, The ICJ recommends that the Judicial Code of Ethics fill that gap by clearly specifying the types of conduct that may render judges liable to disciplinary sanctions.
Furthermore, while the law on the CSPJ provides that a Judicial Ethics Board is to be established to ensure that judges respect the obligations contained within the Judicial Code of Ethics, the ICJ is concerned that neither the composition nor the mandate of the Judicial Ethics Board are clearly specified.
The Moroccan authorities should ensure that the composition of the Judicial Ethics Board is clarified and that its functions are clearly defined, including by entrusting the Board with an advisory role.
“Ensuring that judges are able to consult the Board whenever they have questions regarding the proper application of the Judicial Code of Ethics would contribute to preventing improper conduct and thus reinforce the public’s confidence in its judiciary,” Benarbia added.
Contact:
Said Benarbia, Director of the ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme, t: +41.22.979.3817, e: said.benarbia(a)icj.org
Additional information:
The ICJ delegation met with Mr. Mustapha Farès, First President of the Cassation Court; Mr. Mustapha Meddah, Prosecutor General of the Cassation Court; Mr Driss El Yazami, President of the National Council of Human Rights; Mr. Yassin Mokhli and Mrs Aicha Nassiri, elected members of the CSPJ; Mr. Mohamed Khadraoui, vice-President of the Amicale Hassania; and Mr Abdellatif Chentouf, President of the Judges’ Club.
Morocco-Code of Ethics-News-Press releases-ARA-2016 (full text in Arabic, PDF)
Morocco-Code of Ethics-Advocacy-Analysis Brief-2016-ENG (Memo in English, PDF)
Morocco-Code of Ethics-Advocacy-Analysis Brief-2016-ARA (Memo in Arabic, PDF)
Dec 23, 2016 | Nouvelles, Plaidoyer
La CIJ a appelé aujourd’hui les autorités marocaines à élaborer et à adopter, en étroite consultation avec les associations de juges, un code de déontologie et de conduite judiciaire pleinement conforme aux normes internationales en matière d’indépendance et de responsabilité judiciaire.
Le droit à un système judiciaire indépendant et impartial est une pierre angulaire de l’État de droit et de la protection des droits de l’homme. Ce droit comme le droit à un procès équitable sont tous deux garantis par la Constitution du Maroc et par l’article 14 du Pacte international relatif aux droits civils et politiques (PIDCP), ratifié par le Maroc.
Les autorités marocaines sont donc tenues tant par la Constitution et par son droit national, que par le PIDCP, de respecter et protéger l’indépendance et l’impartialité du pouvoir judiciaire.
L’indépendance du pouvoir judiciaire exige non seulement une séparation claire des fonctions exécutive, législative et judiciaire, et des lois établissant des critères objectifs pour la nomination et assurant une rémunération adéquate et l’inamovibilité des magistrats ; mais également que la magistrature dans son ensemble, ainsi que les magistrats à titre individuel, maintiennent l’intégrité de la profession et qu’ils soient tenus responsables pour les fautes professionnelles commises dans l’exercice de leurs fonctions.
En effet, la confiance du public dans l’intégrité du système judiciaire est un élément essentiel de l’État de droit et cette confiance tient notamment au fait que les magistrats agissent de manière indépendante, sans influence ou pression indue, menaces ou autres ingérences, pour quelque raison que ce soit, et qu’ils seront tenus responsables s’ils agissent en violation de certaines normes de conduite judiciaire dans l’exercice de leurs fonctions judiciaires.
Morocco-Code of Ethics-Advocacy-Analysis Brief-2016-FRE (Texte complet en PDF)
Nov 25, 2016 | Advocacy
The ICJ today joined a group of 60 organizations condemning a new law that would further repress civil society organizations and human rights advocacy in the country, and calling on the Government to stop efforts to silence civil society.The NGO statement follows urgent warnings from the UN Special Rapporteurs on Freedom of Association, on Freedom of Expression, and on Human Rights Defenders that, if implemented, the law would “devastate” civil society in the country.
The full NGO statement can be downloaded in PDF format here: egypt-ngolaw-openletter-2016
Nov 9, 2016
The ICJ has called on the Tunisian authorities to adopt effective measures to ensure that the newly established Specialized Criminal Chambers (SCC) deliver meaningful justice for victims of human rights violations.
In a memorandum published today the ICJ stressed that the SCC had been given a critical role in holding all those responsible for such violations to account in line with international law and standards.
However, the ability for the SCCs to effectively fulfil that role would depend on the willingness of the Tunisian authorities to adopt a number of measures, as set out in recommendations contained in the memorandum.
The memorandum analyses the guarantees for the selection and appointment of the SCC judges; the SCC’s jurisdiction over gross human rights violations; and the legal and practical obstacles that may hinder the SCC’s capacity to deliver justice effectively.
The ICJ has recognized the importance of State initiatives to establish mechanisms and measures to address past human rights violations under the framework of “transitional justice”, such as the Instance Vérité et Dignité (IVD) in Tunisia.
“But mechanisms of this kind and particularly the SCC must not undermine justice and accountability and must be complementary to the ordinary justice system rather than a substitute for it,” said Said Benarbia, Director of the ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme.
The ICJ stressed that for the SCC to be effective, the authorities need to act to clearly set out the procedures before the SCC; ensure that such procedures are consistent with international fair trial rights; establish specialized investigation and prosecution services; and provide for witness and victims protection units in line with international standards.
Obstacles potentially impeding accountability efforts in Tunisia include flawed definitions of crimes and of superior responsibility in the Criminal Code; the application of limitation periods in cases of serious human violations, and uncertainty over whether victims have direct access to lodge complaints before the SCC.
The ICJ identified measures for adoption by the Tunisian authorities to eliminate these obstacles and to ensure the effective functioning of the SCC. These steps include:
- introducing a clear framework regulating the mandate of the SCC and their relation with the ordinary justice system institutions and the IVD;
- ensuring that all alleged human rights violations are investigated and prosecuted, including allegations that are not transferred by or submitted to the IVD;
- ensuring that impunity for gross human rights violations is not facilitated by the application of limitation periods;
- ensuring that Tunisian laws are not construed to allow an individual responsible for a gross human rights violation to rely on an order received from a superior officer or public authority to escape criminal responsibility; and
- ensuring that the SCC contribute to the full realization of the victims’ right to effective, prompt remedy and reparation in all its forms recognized under international law.
Contact
Theo Boutruche, Legal Adviser of the ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme, tel: +96 170 888 961, e-mail: theo.boutruche(a)icj.org
tunisia-scc-memo-news-press-releases-2016-ara (full story in Arabic, PDF)
tunisia-memo-on-scc-advocacy-analysis-brief-2016-eng (full memo in English, PDF)
tunisia-memo-on-scc-advocacy-analysis-brief-2016-ara (full memo in Arabic, PDF)
Oct 12, 2016
The Egyptian authorities must end executive interference in judicial affairs and act to ensure that the judiciary is independent and that it serves to safeguard human rights and uphold the rule of law, the ICJ said today.
The statement came as the ICJ released its new report Egypt’s Judiciary: a Tool of Repression. Lack of Effective Guarantees of Independence and Impartiality.
The report documents the many ways in which the judiciary has been used as a tool to silence those suspected of opposing the Military and Executive.
This include prosecutors and judges initiating and continuing prosecutions on unfounded charges; adopting a presumption in favour of pre-trial detention; applying laws in violation of human rights standards and refusing to permit constitutional challenges to those laws; and failing to respect fundamental fair trial rights.
Convictions in Egypt are regularly based on poorly reasoned judgments and without individual findings of guilt.
“Egypt’s military and executive have subordinated the judiciary to their political will, making it a docile tool in their on-going, sustained crackdown on human rights in Egypt,” said Said Benarbia, ICJ MENA Director.
“In doing so, judges and prosecutors have abdicated their primary responsibility in upholding the rule of law. Rather than acting as a check on the arbitrary exercise of power, judges themselves have become complicit in violating the very rights they are mandated to protect,” he added.
Thousands of political opponents, human rights defenders, pro-democracy campaigners, journalists and individuals exercising their right to freedom of expression and assembly have been subjected to politicized prosecutions and convicted following unfair trials.
The report also documents how the military and the executive’s crackdown has extended to lawyers and judges suspected of opposing the authorities, the very individuals who are supposed to be the last line of defence of rights and freedoms.
The ICJ has found that the structural and systemic politicization of the Egyptian judiciary has been facilitated, in part, by the failure of the legal framework in force to provide for the necessary guarantees for judicial independence and accountability.
The report analyses how the composition, mandate and actions of the High Judicial Council (HJC), have undermined its ability to ensure respect of judicial independence.
The institutional and functional subordination of the Office of the Public Prosecutor to the Executive has meant politicized prosecutions against perceived opposition figures, and a failure to investigate and prosecute alleged human rights violations by police and military personnel.
The report also document how the wide jurisdiction of military and exceptional courts as well as the limited access to the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) have contributed to further undermining judicial independence.
The report contains 136 recommendations to the Egyptian authorities aimed at guaranteeing, in law and practice, the independence and accountability of the judiciary in Egypt.
Contact
Said Benarbia, ICJ Director of the ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme, tel: +41 22 979 38 17, e-mail: said.benarbia(a)icj.org
egypt-tool-of-repression-report-launch-news-press-release-2016-eng (full text with recommendations, in PDF)
egypt-tool-of-repression-report-launch-news-press-release-2016-ara (full text in Arabic, PDF)
egypt-tool-of-repression-publications-reports-thematic-reports-2016-eng (full report, in PDF)
egypt-tool-of-repression-publications-reports-thematic-reports-2016-ara (full report, Arabic version, in PDF)
