Jun 19, 2015 | Communiqués de presse, Nouvelles
La CIJ a invité aujourd’hui les autorités marocaines à modifier les projets de loi sur le Conseil supérieur du pouvoir judiciaire (CSPJ) et sur le Statut des magistrats, afin d’assurer leur pleine conformité avec les normes et standards du droit international sur l’indépendance judiciaire.
La CIJ a invité les autorités à assurer que : le CSPJ soit indépendant aux niveaux institutionnel et organisationnel, ait une compétence exclusive quant à la gestion de la carrière des magistrats, notamment en ce qui concerne la sélection des juges stagiaires, soit impliqué dans la détermination du budget de la magistrature, et habilité à administrer l’allocation des ressources judiciaires.
Ce communiqué fait suite à la conclusion d’une mission de haut niveau qui s’est déroulée au Maroc entre le 12 et le 18 juin 2015 visant à rencontrer des membres des branches du pouvoir exécutif, législatif et judiciaire, ainsi que des représentants de la société civile, afin de s’entretenir sur les réformes judiciaires entreprises par les autorités marocaines.
Durant cette mission, la CIJ a soumis aux autorités deux mémorandums analysant les projets de loi à la lumière des normes du droit international et formulant des recommandations pour des modifications et des réformes.
Contact:
Theo Boutruche, Conseillé juridique du programme de la CIJ pour le Moyen Orient et l’Afrique du nord, t: +96 170 888 961, e: theo.boutruche(a)icj.org
Information supplémentaire:
La délégation de la CIJ était dirigée par M. Philippe Texier, ancien juge à la Cour de cassation française et commissaire de la CIJ.
La délégation a rencontré M. Driss Dahak, Secrétaire général du gouvernement ; M. Abdelilah Lahkim Bennani, Secrétaire général du ministère de la Justice et des Libertés ; M. Mustapha Farès, Premier Président de la Cour de cassation ; M. Mustapha Meddah, Procureur général de la Cour de cassation ; M. Mohamed Cheikh Biadillah, Président de la Chambre des Conseillers ; M. Omar Adkhil, Président de la Commission de justice, législation et droits de l’homme de la Chambre des Conseillers ; M. Mohamed Zerdali, Président de la Commission de justice, législation et droits de l’homme de la Chambre des Représentants ; M. Abdellatif Chentof, Président du Club des magistrats du Maroc ; M. Mohamed Khadraoui, vice-Président de l’Amicale Hassania des magistrats ; et M. Mohamed Akdim, Président de l’Association des barreaux du Maroc (ABAM).
Morocco-Draft Law CSPJ-News-press releases-2015-FRE (Communiqué de presse complet en PDF)
Morocco-Memo on the CSPJ-Advocacy-Briefing paper-2015-FRE (Texte complet en PDF)
Morocco-Memo on Statute for Judges-Advocacy-Briefing paper-2015-FRE (Texte 2 complet en PDF)
Jun 16, 2015 | News
The ICJ deplores the decision of the Cairo Criminal Court to confirm the death sentences for over 100 persons following a grossly unfair trial.
The ICJ is calling upon the Egyptian authorities to desist from carrying out the executions and to provide an effective remedy for the human rights violations.
On 16 May, the Cairo Criminal Court had already recommended deaths sentences for more than 120 accused persons.
Today, having received the opinion of the Grand Mufti of Egypt (whose secret, non-binding opinion must be sought in all death sentence cases before they are confirmed) the Cairo Criminal Court confirmed the death sentences of more than 100 accused, including former President Mohamed Morsi and numerous other senior officials from the outlawed opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood.
“Egypt must immediately end the imposition of mass death sentences and halt all executions of all individuals sentenced to death following unfair trials,” said Said Benarbia, Director of the ICJ’s Middle East and North Africa Programme.
“Egyptian judges are once again contributing to egregious violations of the right to life instead of protecting against, preventing and punishing arbitrary deprivation of life,” he added.
The sentence was imposed following convictions on various charges in two separate cases, including “murder”, “carrying out acts that compromise the independence of the country”, “abduction of police officers”, “collusion with a foreign organization to carry out terrorist activities in Egypt” and “carrying heavy weapons to resist the Egyptian state”.
As previously noted by the ICJ, the trial of the convicted persons violated numerous basic fair trial guarantees.
Many of the accused were denied access to counsel during detention, with some being held incommunicado for months.
Defendants had rights of defence violated, including denial of the right to call and to cross-examine witnesses.
The accused were convicted despite a lack of substantial and credible evidence of proof beyond reasonable doubt of the individual guilt of each accused.
Furthermore, the accused will not have the opportunity to have their conviction and sentence reviewed by a higher tribunal.
Under Egyptian law decisions of felonies courts can only be challenged before the Cassation Court, which examines the proper application of the law by the lower court only and cannot review the merits of the case.
This decision is one of a string of cases in which mass death sentences have been meted out against perceived opponents of the regime. Other cases are ongoing.
The Cairo Criminal Court is currently hearing the “Ansar Beit Al Maqdis” case in which more than 200 accused are charged with serious crimes, including the murder of 50 police officers, the attempted assassination of the interior minister and espionage on behalf of the foreign organization Hamas.
According to one of the defence lawyers, the majority of the accused were held incommunicado for between four and six months and were denied access to counsel.
Information allegedly extracted using torture and other ill-treatment has been relied on as evidence in court. If found guilty, the accused could be sentenced to death.
Egypt has carried out the death sentence against at least 12 people in 2015 despite calls by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights to refrain from carrying out the death penalty.
The recent issuance of mass death sentences in the country has been condemned by UN human rights experts, who called them “a profound disgrace”.
The ICJ opposes the use of the death penalty in all circumstances as a violation of the right to life and a form of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.
The UN General Assembly has called repeatedly, by a large majority, for all retentionist States to impose a moratorium on the use of the death penalty, with a view to abolishing the practice. The ICJ urges the Egyptian authorities to heed this call and desist from carrying out further executions.
Contact:
Alice Goodenough, Legal Adviser of the ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme, tel: 44 7815 570 834, e-mail: alice.goodenough(a)icj.org
Nader Diab, Associate Legal Adviser of the ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme, tel: 41 229 793 804, e-mail: nader.diab(a)icj.org
Egypt-Morsi confirmation of sentence-News-Press release-2015-ENG (full text of press release, Arabic)
Jun 10, 2015 | Communiqués de presse, Nouvelles
La CIJ s’est félicitée aujourd’hui de la décision d’une commission constitutionnelle tunisienne déclarant la nouvelle loi sur le Conseil supérieur de la Magistrature (CSM) inconstitutionnelle.
La CIJ a appelé en outre les autorités à saisir cette opportunité pour amender cette loi, la Loi Organique No. 16/2015 sur le CSM, afin de la mettre en pleine conformité avec les standards internationaux sur l’indépendance judiciaire.
Contact:
Theo Boutruche, Conseillé juridique à la CIJ pour le Moyen Orient et l’Afrique du Nord, tel: +96 170 888 961, e-mail: theo.boutruche(a)icj.org
Tunisia-Constitutionality of HJC law-News-Pressreleases 2015-FRE (Communiqué de presse complet en PDF)
May 18, 2015
The ICJ today called on the Tunisian President to refrain from promulgating Organic Law No. 16/2015 on the High Judicial Council (HJC), and urged the Tunisian authorities to act to reform the deeply flawed articles of the law in full compliance with international standards on judicial independence.
The ICJ is deeply concerned that the law, which was approved by the Assembly of People’s Representatives on Friday 15 May, falls far short of international standards on judicial independence, in particular the provisions relating to the composition, independence and competencies of the HJC.
Of particular concern is the fact that the law does not provide for the HJC to consist of a majority of judges who are elected by their peers; does not provide for the HJC to be meaningfully involved in determining and ensuring sufficient budgeting for the judiciary; and does not adequately guarantee the security of tenure of judges, including by allowing for judges to be transferred without their consent for a maximum of three years.
The law also grants the Minister of Justice sweeping powers over the Judicial Inspection Service and over the commencement of disciplinary proceedings.
The ICJ is concerned that the drafting process of the law has failed to meet basic principles of inclusive participation and transparency.
Stakeholders, including professional associations of judges and civil society organizations, were not given the opportunity to provide their inputs or to meaningfully comment on the drafts.
“If promulgated, Law No. 16/2015 would perpetuate some of the provisions and practices that undermined judicial independence in Tunisia for decades, including by allowing for the Minister of Justice to initiate disciplinary proceedings against judges,” said Said Benarbia, Director of the ICJ MENA Programme.
“The Tunisian President must refrain from promulgating this law and initiate an inclusive process to draft a new law that unequivocally ends executive interference in judicial matters and empowers the HJC to oversee all issues relating to the judiciary, including judicial administration and the career of judges,” he added.
Contact:
Theo Boutruche, Legal Adviser, ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme, t: +96 170 888 961, e: theo.boutruche(a)icj.org
Tunisia-Tunisian Law on HJC-News-Press Release-2015-ARA (press release in Arabic, PDF)
Tunisia-Tunisian Law on HJC-Advocacy-Position Paper-2015-ENG (position paper in English, PDF)
Tunisia-Tunisian Law on HJC-Advocacy-Position Paper-2015-ARA (position paper in Arabic, PDF)
