May 4, 2019 | News
The ICJ concluded a research mission on the independence of the judiciary in Tajikistan on 3 May. Following the mission, the ICJ expressed concerns about the independence of individual judges as well as the functioning of judicial institutions and procedures in law and in practice.
The mission included ICJ Commissioner Justice (ret.) Martine Comte of the Orleans Court of Appeal (France) and ICJ Secretary General Saman Zia-Zarifi.
The ICJ spoke with a wide cross-section of stakeholders, including senior government officials, numerous former judges, senior advocates and working lawyers, as well as journalists and members of civil society. The ICJ will provide its findings in a final mission report that will set out include key recommendations to help Tajikistan meet its international obligations.
Among other things, the ICJ mission discussed recent initiatives to reform the judiciary, including the Judicial Reform Programme of 2019-2021 which has been recently been adopted by the President of Tajikistan, and which provides an opportunity to strengthen judicial independence.
The ICJ mission gathered information about the newly formed Qualification Commission for qualification and disciplinary procedures for judges. This replaced the Council of Justice, which had been criticized by international observers for its lack of independence.
Although formally established under the Supreme Court, the Qualification Commission consists predominantly of members of the executive with only two out of seven members being representatives of the judiciary.
Multiple lawyers and former judges expressed serious concerns about the right to a fair trial in criminal proceedings, pointing in particular to the extremely low acquittal rate for suspects. It appears that numbers of acquittals have declined over several decades and that acquittals are now extremely rare.
The ICJ also received complaints that pubic access to court hearings is impeded in practice despite clear legal provision for the public nature of court proceedings, with limited exceptions. Members of the public were said to be generally unable to attend court hearings freely where they are not parties to the proceedings.
Furthermore, the ICJ heard that judicial decisions are generally not available to members of the public unless they are participants in the proceedings.
The ICJ wishes to express its gratitude to everyone who contributed to the successful conduct of the mission, including State, inter-State and non-State organisations and bodies which the ICJ met and communicated with.
The ICJ wishes to stress its appreciation of the support provided by the OSCE Office in Dushanbe and the United Nationals Human Rights Office.
Apr 1, 2019 | News
On 31 March, Mikiko Otani, ICJ’s Commissioner and a member of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, spoke to Filipino lawyers at the bi-annual National Lawyers’ Conference of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), which took place at the Iloilo Convention Center, Iloilo City.
Mikiko Otani, who had been Chair of the Committee on International Human Rights of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations (JFBA) remains active in the JFBA, talked about the importance of advancing gender equality in the legal profession and the important initiatives of the JFBA on eliminating gender discrimination.
She noted that “female lawyers experience many forms of discrimination in the workplaces, practices, court rooms and bar associations.”
In countries all over the world, many formal barriers women used to face in entering the legal profession, including admission to law schools, the bar, have been eliminated.
However, women continue to face barriers, some of which are specific to the legal profession, but others common to women who work more generally.
Mikiko Otani noted that when she started practice as a lawyer in 1990, women applicants for jobs at law firms would often be asked during the interview whether they planned on getting married or having children.
Law firms preferred to hire male lawyers as they were thought to be unencumbered with looking after household matters, such as housekeeping and child care.
She recalled, “My colleagues questioned my decision to get married and have children almost immediately after becoming a lawyer while also continuing my practice as this was an unusual for women lawyers in Japan to do at that time. They felt that my decision to start a family at that point would be a hindrance to my career.”
She also talked about the bias observed in case assignment, where only male lawyers would be assigned to cases that required extensive traveling, while female lawyers would be often assigned to family cases, which are considered to be easy, unpopular or low-profile cases.
There was also frequent bias against female lawyers in promotion or offering partnership in law firms, contributing to a major gender gap in income between male and female lawyers.
In 2008, the JFBA formulated a Basic Plan which included the study of inequalities between male and female lawyers in Japan, finding ways to ensure a work-life balance for women, creating complaint handling bodies, and hosting trainings and educational activities in order to promote gender equality.
Mikiko Otani’s remarks resonated among many female lawyers in the Philippines, who shared in the discussion that followed that they face the same challenges.
“As lawyers, it is our responsibility to assist everyone, including women, in accessing justice,” said Marienne Ibadlit, a member of the Board of Governors of the IBP.
“We cannot be faithful to this responsibility if within our profession, we perpetuate gendered relationships and social inequalities that discriminate against women. A bar association that is committed to gender equality is a prerequisite to a justice system that does not discriminate against women and ensures the full enjoyment of women of their human rights.”
Contact:
Emerlynne Gil, Senior International Legal Adviser for Southeast Asia, t: +662 619 8477 (ext. 206) ; e: emerlynne.gil(a)icj.org
Mar 23, 2019 | News
Some 100 distinguished judges and lawyers from around the world commit to expanding the reach of human rights and rule of law principles, in the face of a global backlash against human rights values. The Tunis Congress is the ICJ’s 18th Global Congress since 1952.
The ICJ World Congress, consisting primarily of jurists serving as Commissioners, ICJ National Section and affiliates, and the ICJ Secretariat, is discussing strategy for concerted action and issue a final Declaration reflecting the outcome.
“Since its founding 1952 the ICJ has been steadfast in its belief in the primacy of human rights grounded in rule of law principles as indispensable for well being of all people, as well as for peaceful and just international order,” said Sam Zarifi, ICJ Secretary General.
“Cynical manipulation by authoritarian populists positions the rule of law and human rights as obstacles to the popular will. But as the ICJ’s experience over the past six decades has shown, the rule of law is inextricably bound with the proper functioning of democracy and to the protection and promotion of human rights,” he added.
The ICJ Congress will focus on five key areas of concern: the independence of judges and lawyers and administration of justice; access to justice and accountability for human rights violations; global security and counter-terrorism; equality and non-discrimination; and fundamental freedoms and civil society space.
“The international human rights legal framework has allowed for huge improvements in the lives of people around the world since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 70 years ago, and the ICJ has played an important role in the development of this legal framework,” Zarifi said.
“But we are now witnessing a resurgence of some of the dangerous, insidious ideas and practices that have led the world to carnage and chaos in the past: the scapegoating of groups such minorities, refugees and migrants; the undermining of multilateral institutions; and the silencing of civil society and those who are giving voice to those who are marginalized on the basis of their gender, religion, ethnicity, physical capacity or sexual orientation,” he added.
“Global powers such as the United States, Russia, and China are actively attacking the rule of law and respect for human rights around the world, while the European Union is distracted by the politics of xenophobia and fearmongering,” he further said.
“It is now crucial for other States, and for people around the world, to show that respect for the rule of law and human rights are universal values and global demands, and the ICJ is proud to pull together the community of jurists from all regions of the world to support these values and demands,” he added.
In the face of these threats and challenges, the Congress will consider means to defend and strengthen the rule of law and legal protection of human rights globally, regionally and in individual countries.
The ICJ is made up of around 60 distinguished judges and legal practitioners from all parts of the world and diverse, works on all five continents and addresses human rights protection in dozens of countries.
Oct 24, 2018 | News
The ICJ started its 60th anniversary in Geneva with an evening gala hosted by Ambassador Julian Braithwaite, at his residence on 18 October 2018. A moving speech by Sir Nicolas Bratza (photo), ICJ Commissioner and Executive Committee member, on the importance of the defence of the rule of law opened the evening.
It was followed by a magnificent concert by Menuhin Academy virtuoso, violinist Vasyl Zatsikha. A magical evening.
The speech of Sir Nicolas Bratza
“I feel very privileged to have been asked to say a few words by way of introduction to the speech of the Secretary General of the ICJ.
May I begin by expressing on behalf of us all the warmest thanks to the British Ambassador for hosting this very special celebration of the 60th anniversary of the ICJ in its home in Geneva.
Anniversaries are always important occasions and never more so than when they mark a milestone in the life of a remarkable organization that has throughout its existence worked tirelessly to safeguard the rule of law and human rights and that has done so, in particular, by protecting and defending the independence of judges and lawyers.
My association with the ICJ has been relatively brief but for many years I have admired its work from afar, as a member of the European Commission of Human Rights for five years and as a judge of the Strasbourg Court, for fourteen.
The Court and the ICJ share the common purpose – to protect the fundamental principles of democracy, the rule of law and human rights.
Without the independent and impartiality of judges, both national and international, those principles would be meaningless and might as well have been written on water.
With the alarming growth of populism in countries across the world, the threats to the independence of the judiciary are regrettably as real today as they have been at any time.
In the international Court of which I was a member, judges are nominated by the States from which they are drawn.
But they are in no sense representatives of those States and are not infrequently faced with having to decide cases, sometimes cases of acute sensitivity, against their own countries.
The pressures on judges of the Court are often intense and there are notorious examples where the courage shown by a judge in maintaining his or her rigorous independence has come at a cost, the judge being punished by not being renominated by the State, by returning to the country at the end of their mandate without employment or means of livelihood, or by being unable to return safely to their home at all.
But if the position of the international judge is difficult enough, that of the national judge in certain States, including member States of the Council of Europe, is far worse, their independence and security, both physical and professional, being under constant threat.
In the 1990s and in the early years of this century, the signs were promising. One was able to witness a slow but steady improvement in adherence to the rule of law on the part of new democracies.
This was in no small measure due to the work of organizations such as the ICJ which, through its writings, seminars and training of judges and lawyers worldwide, did so much to strengthen and support judicial independence and to expose the most flagrant examples of abuse and undermining of that independence.
I regret to say that in more recent years the landscape has become much darker, with open and insidious attacks on members of the judiciary, the arbitrary removal of judges from their posts and measures taken to curtail the powers of judges and courts or to undermine their authority and independence.
In my official visits to member States as President of the Strasbourg Court, I met several judges who voiced their deep concern about the steps being taken both by the legislature and the executive to compromise their independence and to diminish their authority. It is not only in the new democracies that such a phenomenon has become apparent.
There has been a growing trend in many parts of Europe to undermine the standing and authority of the judiciary by outspoken attacks on judges for unpopular decisions, by members of the executive, by parliamentarians and by the media.
It is these challenges to judicial independence and to the rule of law that make the role of the ICJ and the continued support of the diplomatic community not only more relevant but more vital than they have ever been.
It is with pride and pleasure that I wish the ICJ a very happy anniversary on this its first 60 years of life in this great city.
But I combine this with a fervent hope that, with the support of us all, the ICJ is able to continue its extraordinary work for the next 60 years and far beyond. The protection of the rule of law and human rights depend on it.”
Jul 16, 2018 | Multimedia items, News, Video clips
Changes within the Commission enhance the organization’s capacity to respond to increased threats to rights protection via erosion of the rule of law, particularly in relation to the independence of the judiciary.
The ICJ is pleased to announce new leadership at the ICJ as Professor Robert K. Goldman (US) has been elected President of the organization and Justice Radmila Dragicevic-Dicic (Serbia) has been elected Vice-President, a role she will undertake jointly with Professor Carlos Ayala (Venezuela) who was also appointed Vice-President earlier in the year.
Professor Robert K. Goldman served as Acting President of the ICJ following the sad passing of former President Professor Sir Nigel Rodley in 2017.
The President and Vice-Presidents are supported by the Executive Committee, which has also been bolstered by new members Justice Sir Nicolas Bratza (UK), former President of the European Court of Human Rights; Dame Silvia Cartwright (New Zealand), former Governor-General of New Zealand; and Shawan Jabarin (Palestine), prominent human rights activist and Director General of Al-Haq, an independent Palestinian non-governmental human rights organization.
“I am honoured to have been elected President of the ICJ and to be able to work with such proficient and inspiring jurists amongst ICJ leadership and in the wider Commission itself, without whom the ICJ could not provide the expertise and leadership it does on such a wide range of human rights issues,” said Professor Robert K. Goldman, ICJ President.
“Those that have taken on a new role in ICJ leadership will help guide the organization in augmenting efforts to defend the rule of law amidst the current political backdrop of increasing antipathy and hostility towards rights protections,” he added.
In addition to these changes in the senior leadership of the ICJ, the organization is also pleased to welcome five new members:
Justice Chinara Aidarbekova (Kyrgyzstan), judge of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Kyrgyzstan; Gamal Eid (Egypt), prominent lawyer and human rights defender; Jamesina Essie L. King (Sierra Leone), Commissioner of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights; Michael Sfard (Israel), prominent human rights lawyer who has represented many Israeli and Palestinian individuals and organizations; and Ambiga Sreenevasan, former President of the Malaysian Bar Council.
“The ICJ is alarmed by the increasing volume of worldwide attacks on the institutions that uphold human rights both at an international level, where UN mechanisms are constantly condemned rather than supported and enhanced to maximize their efficacy; and also on the local level, for example when we see the independence of the judiciary, an essential element of maintaining rights protections, coming under attack in places like Guatemala, Poland and South Korea,” said Saman Zia-Zarifi, ICJ Secretary-General.
“The ICJ relies on its global advocates of human rights to advance and defend the rights of others through the culmination of their vast and varied expertise and I am pleased to welcome our newest Commissioners to help in this regard, ” said Zia-Zarifi.
A further nine Commissioners were elected to serve additional terms on the Commission:
Professor Roberto Garreton (Chile), Professor Robert K. Goldman, Hina Jilani (Pakistan), Professor Jose Antonio Martin Pallin (Spain), Justice Sanji Monageng (Botswana), Tamara Morschakova (Russia), Dr Jarna Petman (Finland), Belisario dos Santos Jr (Brazil) and Justice Philippe Texier (France).
Hina jilani (Pakistan) and Belisario dos Santos Jr (Brazil) were both also re-elected to the Exectuive Committee and Professor Marco Sassoli (Italy/Switzerland) and Justice Stefan Trechsel (Switzerland) were re-elected as Alternates to the Executive Committee.
On video: Bob Goldman talks about the ICJ and the Rule of Law
