International Commission of Jurists
Tunisia: victims’ right to reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence must be at the forefront of the Specialized Criminal Chambers’ work

Tunisia: victims’ right to reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence must be at the forefront of the Specialized Criminal Chambers’ work

Apr 7, 2021 | News

Victims of gross human rights violations must be provided with effective reparations and guarantees of non-recurrence by Tunisia’s Specialized Criminal Chambers (SCC), judges and prosecutors asserted during a workshop held by the ICJ and the Association of Tunisian Magistrates (AMT) on 3 and 4 April.

The workshop highlighted the need for the SCC to adopt restitution, compensation, rehabilitation and satisfaction measures to achieve to the fullest extent possible reparation for material and moral damage suffered by victims of gross human rights violations in Tunisia.

Participants further emphasized that SCC decisions should include recommendations on guarantees of non-recurrence, including on legal and institutional reforms.

The workshop was attended by more than 25 Tunisian judges and prosecutors attached to the 13 Specialized Criminal Chambers. Discussions involved also international experts and ICJ representatives.

“It is important that the SCC, consistent with international standards, adopt a comprehensive notion of victims and persons entitled to reparation,” said Philippe Texier, ICJ Commissioner.

“In this respect, reparative measures should  focus  not only on direct victims, but also indirect victims, including the immediate family or dependants of the direct victim and persons who have suffered harm in intervening to assist victims,” he added.

Federico Andreu-Guzmán, international expert, noted the non-derogable nature of the right to reparation under international law and that SCC should seek to ensure that all their decisions comply with this right.

“SCC decisions should include wide-reaching recommendations in order to guarantee that the violations will not be repeated,” said Said Benarbia, Director of ICJ’s Middle East and North Africa Programme.

The workshop also offered the opportunity to participants to discuss a set of recommendations targeting the High Judicial Council and its role in supporting the SCC.

The recommendations, which were developed by a group of SCC judges and prosecutors following the ICJ’s roundtable of 13-14 March, aim to find joint approaches to address ongoing procedural obstacles before the SCC and will be subject of future meetings and roundtable discussions organized by the ICJ and the AMT.

Contact

Valentina Cadelo, Legal Adviser, ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme, e: valentina.cadelo(a)icj.org

Asser Khattab, Research and Communications’ Officer, ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme, e: asser.khattab(a)icj.org

 

ICJ submission to the UN Human Rights Committee on Ukraine

ICJ submission to the UN Human Rights Committee on Ukraine

Sep 2, 2020 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions

The ICJ has made submissions to the Human Rights Committee, today, on Ukraine’s implementation of, and compliance with, the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The ICJ broughtto the Committee’s attention some issues of concern pertaining to Ukraine’s compliance with and implementation of the ICCPR.

This submission highlights a number of concerns relating to the security and independence of lawyers in Ukraine, and their consequences for the protection of certain Covenant rights. In particular, this submission addresses:

  1. the institutional independence of the legal profession;
  2. security of lawyers and their right to life;
  3. restrictions on access to clients and the rights of the defence; and
  4. security of lawyers and access to justice in uncontrolled territories in Ukraine.

These concerns highlight Ukraine’s lack of compliance with its obligations under the Covenant, including in respect of the right to life under article 6 and the right to a fair trial under article 14, in particular, as well as under other Covenant rights, such as Ukraine’s obligations under articles 2, 7, 9, 10, and 17 of the ICCPR.

Ukraine-ICJ-Submission-CCPR-Advocacy-Non-Legal-Submissions-2020-ENG

Contemporary challenges to the independence and impartiality of prosecutors

Contemporary challenges to the independence and impartiality of prosecutors

Jul 13, 2020 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions

Speaking at the UN Human Rights Council the ICJ today emphasized the need for a human-rights-based approach to addressing corruption in justice systems, and urged more attention be given to the abuse of non-independent prosecution services by Executive governments.

The statement, delivered in an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, read as follows:

“Mr Special Rapporteur,

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) concurs with the affirmation in your report that justice systems must effectively counter corruption; that corruption in justice systems negatively impacts human rights; and that addressing such impacts is within the mandate of the Human Rights Council.[1]

At the same time, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) already actively provides resources and specialized technical expertise to States and prosecutors in implementing the Convention against Corruption. Keeping the Human Rights Council’s focus on the specific value added by a human-rights-based approach to such overlapping issues makes the best use of the Council and OHCHR’s limited resources and special competence and expertise.

For example, this report could have presented a detailed analysis of, and recommendations on, the right to remedy and reparation of victims of human rights violations caused by corruption of prosecutors, judges and lawyers. However, while the report briefly mentions victims (para 30), human rights defenders (para 31), and human rights training (para 58), and that human rights issues can impede international cooperation (para 49), but otherwise it mostly addresses technical advice for effective counter-corruption measures. The ICJ invites you to elaborate on the specific new elements a human-rights-based approach adds to the expert advice already provided by UNODC in this regard.

We also urge you to devote a future report to the manipulation of non-independent prosecution services by Executive governments to repress dissenting voices and human rights defenders, neutralize political opposition, shrink civil society space, and entrench impunity for human rights violations, which as our submission documented is no less urgent a global human rights issue than corruption, and is not a special focus of UN bodies other than the Council and OHCHR.

Thank you.”

[1] Indeed, twenty years ago the ICJ adopted a Policy Framework for Preventing and Eliminating Corruption and Ensuring the Impartiality of the Judicial System and its work against corruption in cooperation with judiciaries and prosecution services continues at the global and national levels.

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