Independence and Impartiality of the Judiciary, Jurors and Assessors, and the Independence of Lawyers Mandate of Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers

Calls upon all States to guarantee the independence of judges and lawyers and the objectivity and impartiality of prosecutors, and their ability to perform their functions accordingly, including by taking effective legislative, law enforcement and other appropriate measures that will enable them to carry out their professional functions without interference, harassment, threats or intimidation of any kind;

Encourages States to promote diversity in the composition of the members of the judiciary, including by taking into account a gender perspective and by actively promoting the balanced representation of women and men from various segments of society at all levels, and of persons belonging to minorities and other disadvantaged groups, and to ensure that the requirements for joining the judiciary and the selection process therefore are non-discriminatory, public and transparent, based on objective criteria and guarantee the appointment of individuals of integrity and ability with appropriate training and qualifications in law based on individual merit and under equal working conditions;

Calls upon States to promote the full, equal and meaningful participation and representation of all women, as well as equality in access to positions at all levels of the administration of justice, and encourages States to adopt substantive and procedural standards to make progress towards achieving gender balance and to ensure the full, equal and meaningful participation and representation of women in public decision-making roles in the judicial system, including the judiciary and prosecution services;

Encourages States to develop, as appropriate, policies, procedures and programmes in the area of restorative justice as part of a comprehensive justice system;

Also encourages States to consider, in collaboration with relevant national entities, such as bar associations, associations of judges and prosecutors and educational institutions assisting the judiciary developing guidance on issues such as gender, children, persons with disabilities, Indigenous Peoples and migrants, among others, to inform the action of judges, lawyers, prosecutors and other actors in the judicial system;

Calls upon States to ensure that prosecutors can perform their functional activities in an objective and impartial manner, without undue interference or any fear of reprisal, and condemns all forms of violence, intimidation, retaliation or harassment against them, their families and professional associates, whether by State or non-State actors, while reminding States of their duty to protect them, uphold their integrity and bring perpetrators to justice;

Also calls upon States to adopt and implement laws and policies that protect lawyers and members of the legal profession, including from strategic lawsuits against public participation and from the misuse notably of financial, defamation or libel laws to pressure, intimidate or discourage them from carrying out their professional duties, including from defending politically sensitive cases, and to provide training for prosecutors, judges, lawyers and forensic professionals on identifying and responding effectively to such cases;

Calls upon States, in collaboration with relevant national entities, such as bar associations, associations of judges and prosecutors and educational institutions, to support access to adequate training, including human rights training, for judges, prosecutors and lawyers, both on initial appointment and periodically throughout their careers, taking into account regional and international human rights law and, where applicable and relevant, the concluding observations and decisions of human rights mechanisms, such as the treaty bodies and regional human rights courts;

Encourages States to take measures to combat discrimination in the administration of justice by, inter alia, promoting tailored and interdisciplinary human rights training, including anti-racist, multicultural, gender-, age- and disability-responsive training, for all judges, lawyers and prosecutors;

Invites States to take measures, including by adopting domestic legislation, to provide for independent and self-governing professional associations of lawyers and to recognize the vital role played by lawyers in upholding the rule of law and promoting and protecting human rights;

Calls upon States to ensure that legal provisions that are to be or have been adopted in relation to counter-terrorism or national security are consistent with the international obligations of the State concerning the right to a fair trial, the right to liberty and the right to an effective remedy for violations of human rights and other provisions of international law relevant to the role of judges, prosecutors and lawyers;

Urges States to ensure that judiciaries have the necessary resources and capacity to help to maintain functionality, accountability, transparency and integrity, and to ensure due process and the continuity of judicial activities, including efficient access to justice consistent with the right to a fair trial and other rights and fundamental freedoms, during extraordinary and crisis situations, including in armed conflict and situations of occupation;

Encourages States to equip judiciaries with safe, secure and responsibly developed digital technologies, including artificial intelligence, to help ensure access to justice and the right to a fair trial, to provide judges, prosecutors, lawyers and judicial staff with appropriate digital training to ensure the effective and responsible use of such technologies, while underlining that the use of artificial intelligence in the administration of justice must remain subject to human oversight and transparent human rights impact assessments in order to prevent or mitigate effectively potential risks they may pose to human rights;

Invites the Special Rapporteur to collaborate with relevant stakeholders within the United Nations system in the areas pertaining to the mandate;

Encourages the Special Rapporteur to facilitate the provision of technical assistance and capacity-building and the dissemination of guidelines and best practices, including through engagement with relevant stakeholders and in consultation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, when requested by the State concerned, with a view to establishing and strengthening the rule of law, paying particular attention to the administration of justice and the role of an independent and competent judiciary and legal profession;

Encourages Governments that face difficulties in guaranteeing the independence of judges and lawyers, the objectivity and impartiality of prosecutors and their ability to perform their functions accordingly, or that are determined to take measures to implement these principles further, to consult with and to consider the services of the Special Rapporteur, for instance, by inviting the mandate holder to visit their countries;

Encourages Governments to give due consideration to recommendations made by United Nations human rights mechanisms, and to implement recommendations supported under the universal periodic review process, addressing the independence and effectiveness of the judiciary and their effective implementation, and invites the international community, regional organizations and the United Nations system to support any implementation efforts;

Invites United Nations agencies, funds and programmes to continue their activities in the areas of the administration of justice and the rule of law, including at the country level at the request of the State, encourages States to reflect such activities in their national capacity-building plans, and emphasizes that institutions concerned with the administration of justice should be properly funded;

Encourages States to ensure that their legal frameworks, implementing regulations and judicial manuals are fully in line with their international obligations and take into account relevant commitments in the areas of the administration of justice and the rule of law;

Urges all Governments to cooperate with and to assist the Special Rapporteur in the performance of the mandate, to provide all information requested by the Special Rapporteur, and to respond to communications transmitted to them by the Special Rapporteur without undue delay;

Calls upon Governments to give serious consideration to responding favourably to the requests of the Special Rapporteur to visit their countries, and urges States to enter into a constructive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur with respect to follow-up to and the implementation of her recommendations to enable her to fulfil the mandate even more effectively;

Encourages the United Nations, including its specialized agencies, as well as regional organizations, national human rights institutions, independent experts, bar associations, professional associations of judges and prosecutors, non-governmental organizations and other relvant stakeholders, to cooperate to the fullest extent possible with the Special Rapporteur in the fulfilment of the mandate;

Requests the Secretary-General and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to provide the Special Rapporteur with all the human and financial resources necessary for the effective fulfilment of the mandate;