Nov 3, 2015
In a memorandum published today, the ICJ is calling on the Tunisian Parliament to revise the draft law on the Constitutional Court with a view to ensuring its full compliance with international standards, in particular those on judicial independence.
The establishment of a truly independent Constitutional Court in Tunisia holds out the promise of strengthening the rule of law by enhancing protection of the rights guaranteed under the new Constitution, the ICJ notes.
But to achieve these aims, key aspects of the draft law must be changed, the Geneva-based organization stresses.
“Tunisian law makers must amend the draft law to provide the Court with the necessary guarantees of independence, broader functions and to ensure individuals easier access to the Court, whose function is to protect their rights under Tunisia’s new Constitution,” said Said Benarbia, Director of the ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme.
The draft law must also be revised to ensure that all members of the Court are appointed because of their legal expertise and integrity, and that its composition includes women and reflects the diversity of the population of Tunisia, the ICJ says.
Ensuring that a body composed of at least a majority of judges will select the individuals to be appointed to the Court will bolster the Court’s independence.
“The judges of the Court should be selected in a clear and open process, led by judges, that ensures that the individuals appointed to sit on the Court are chosen for their skills and not on the basis of their political affiliations or loyalties,” Benarbia added.
Additional safeguards against the possibility of removal for unjustified reasons and which ensure fair disciplinary procedures are needed to ensure the guardians of the Constitution may rule without fear or favour, the ICJ adds.
The draft law should be amended so as to more clearly provide the Court with a role as a check on measures taken by the executive branch of government.
It is also crucial that provisions of the draft law be added to broaden the Court’s mandate and increase individuals’ access to it, the ICJ underlines.
For example, unnecessary restrictions, such as any specific accreditation for lawyers should be removed, and provisions authorizing the Court to accept third parties as interveners and amicus curiae to increase the basis of information on which the Court decides a case should be added.
Contact:
Theo Boutruche, Legal Adviser of the ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme, t: +96 170 888 961, e: theo.boutruche(a)icj.org
Tunisia-Draft Law Const Court-Advocacy-Analysis Brief-2015-ENG (full memo in PDF, English)
Tunisia-Draft Law Const Ct-News-Press releases-2015-ARA (full press release in PDF, Arabic)
Tunisia-Draft Law Const Court-Advocacy-Analysis Brief-2015-ARA (full memo in PDF, Arabic)
Sep 21, 2015 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
The ICJ today delivered an oral statement at the UN Human Rights Council during the Interactive Dialogue with the Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic concerning accountability and other measures to address the Syrian conflict.
In the statement the ICJ called upon the UN Human Rights Council and the Security Council to respond to the findings of the 10th report of the Syria Commission of Inquiry, including with a view to ensuring accountability for the serious violations of international law.
The ICJ also called upon all states to comply with their obligations under international law vis-à-vis the Syrian conflict, including by searching for all those responsible for international crimes committed in this conflict and bringing them before their own courts, and by protecting the rights of Syrian refugees and abiding by the principle of non-refoulement.
The full statement may be downloaded in PDF format, here: Syria-UN-HRC30-OralStatement-Advocay-non legal submission-2015-ENG
Sep 15, 2015 | News
Ten human rights groups, including the ICJ, represented in the Jury, today called on the United Arab Emirates authorities to lift the travel ban imposed on Ahmed Mansoor, one of the three human rights defenders nominated for the 2015 Award, and to issue him a passport.
Widely respected as one of the few voices within the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to provide a credible independent assessment of human rights developments in the country, Ahmed Mansoor regularly raises concerns regarding arbitrary detention, torture or degrading treatment, and failure to meet international standards of fair trial.
He also draws attention to other human rights abuses, including against migrant workers.
As a result, Ahmed Mansoor has faced repeated intimidation, harassment, and death threats from the UAE authorities or their supporters, including arrest and imprisonment in 2011 following an unfair trial.
He and four other activists who called for democratic rights in the UAE were jailed in 2011 on the charge of “insulting officials”.
Although pardoned and released later that year, Ahmed Mansoor has been banned from travel and had his passport confiscated.
As a result of his courageous work, Ahmed Mansoor was selected as one of the three finalists of the Martin Ennals Award who will be recognized at a ceremony hosted by the city of Geneva on October 6th.
The Award is usually handed out by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
As matters stand, however, Ahmed Mansoor will be prevented from attending the ceremony because the UAE authorities have arbitrarily imposed a travel ban on him and have refused to return his passport.
Both the travel ban and the confiscation of his passport violate Ahmed Mansoor’s right under international human rights law to freedom of movement, as these measures were taken to punish him for his peaceful human rights activism.
The Martin Ennals Award Jury today noted with concern : “Ahmed Mansoor’s absence at the ceremony would mark a very disappointing position for the UAE, which is a country that prides itself as one of the hubs of international business and tourism in the Middle East, as well a safe haven in the region. As a member of the UN Human Rights Council, which is running for a second term, we expect the UAE authorities to honour their obligations to uphold human rights and protect human rights defenders. The UAE government must match its rhetoric on the international stage with meaningful actions at home, starting with immediately lifting the travel ban on Ahmed Mansoor, to returning and renewing his passport, and allowing him to travel to Geneva for the ceremony.”
Ahmed Mansoor is a member of the Advisory Committee of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa Division, as well as the Advisory Board of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights.
The following organizations are represented in the Martin Ennals Award Jury: International Commission of Jurists, Amnesty International, FIDH, Human Rights First, HURIDOCS, International Service for Human Rights, EWDE Germany, Front Line Defenders, Human Rights Watch, World Organisation Against Torture.
Contact:
Michael Khambatta, Director, Martin Ennals Foundation, t +41 79 474 8208 ; e: khambatta(a)martinennalsaward.org
UAE-MEA Jury Joint Statement Ahmed Mansoor-News-Press releases-2015-ARA (full text of press release in ARABIC, pdf)
Sep 14, 2015
The ICJ today called on the members of the Tunisian parliament to amend the draft law on the High Judicial Council (HJC), with a view to ensuring its full compliance with international standards on judicial independence.
In a new position paper, the Geneva-based organization acknowledges that the draft law provides enhanced guarantees for judicial independence, in particular by ending executive control over the HJC, by providing for a majority of the HJC’s members to be judges elected by their peers, and by ensuring that the HJC is the only body competent to manage the career of judges.
But the ICJ remains concerned that in certain key respects, the draft law falls short of international standards.
In particular, it does not provide for specific, concrete measures to ensure women’s full and equal participation and representation in the HJC and the judiciary as a whole, for the HJC to be consulted on, and involved in, the preparation and implementation of the judiciary’s budget, and for adequate financial resources to be available for both the HJC and the judiciary in general.
“The Tunisian Assembly should ensure that the draft law is amended so that the HJC is truly independent, pluralistic and gender-representative and its competencies are expanded to include its involvement in the preparation and implementation of the budget for the entire judiciary, not only that of the HJC,” said Said Benarbia, Director of the ICJ MENA Programme.
The ICJ is also concerned that, while the draft law provides enhanced guarantees for the management of the career of judges by the HJC, the provisions relating to the security of tenure of judges and the transfer of judges, as well as certain aspects of the disciplinary system, are not fully in line with international standards.
“The draft law should be amended to ensure that judges may only be removed for reasons of incapacity or behaviour that renders them unfit to discharge their duties, that in all circumstances their consent is sought for any transfer to another jurisdiction, and that all disciplinary proceedings against them are fair and determined in accordance with established standards of judicial conduct,” Benarbia added.
Contact:
Theo Boutruche, Legal Adviser of the ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme, t: +96 170 888 961, e: theo.boutruche(a)icj.org
Tunisia-Final HJC Draft Law-Advocacy-Position Paper-2015-ENG (full text of position paper in PDF, English)
Tunisia-HJC law-News-2015-ARA (full news text in PDF, Arabic)
Tunisia-Final HJC Draft Law-Advocacy-Position Paper-2015-ARA (full text of position paper in PDF, Arabic)
Aug 17, 2015 | News
The ICJ today condemned the promulgation of the Counter-Terrorism Law by the Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, as a new, repressive move that would erode the rule of law and brush aside fundamental legal and human rights guarantees.
Calls to revise the draft Counter-Terrorism Law by the ICJ and other international and national human rights organizations and stakeholders, including Egypt’s quasi-governmental National Human Rights Council, were disregarded.
“The promulgation of the Counter-Terrorism Law by President el-Sisi expands the list of repressive laws and decrees that aim to stifle dissent and the exercise of fundamental freedoms,” said Said Benarbia, Director of the ICJ’s Middle East and North Africa Programme.
“Egypt’s authorities must ensure the law is not used as a tool of repression and, to this end, comprehensively revise it so that it fully complies with international human rights law and standards,” he added.
In a position paper published on 9 July, the ICJ detailed how the law is inconsistent with, and in numerous ways violates, Egypt’s obligations under international law, including those relating to the right to life, the right to liberty and not to be subjected to arbitrary detention, the right to privacy, and fair trial rights.
Further, the law gives state officials broad immunity from criminal responsibility for the use of force in the course of their duties, including the use of lethal force when it is not strictly necessary to protect lives, grants sweeping surveillance and detention powers to prosecutors, entrenches terrorism circuits within the court system (which have in the past frequently involved fair trial violations), and grants the President far-reaching, discretionary powers to “take the necessary measures” to maintain public security, where there is a “danger of terrorist crimes.”
Contact:
Alice Goodenough, Legal Adviser, ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme, t: +44 7815 570 834; e: alice.goodenough(a)icj.org
Nader Diab, Associate Legal Adviser, ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme, t: +41 229 793 804; e: nader.diab(a)icj.org
Egypt-Counter-Terrorism Law Promulgated-News-Press releases-2015-ARA (full text in pdf, ARABIC)
