Report Of The Special Rapporteur On The Independence Of Judges And Lawyers PDF Download

In this report, the author summarizes her letters to government officials in 44 countries and the Gaza Strip regarding alleged human rights violations committed against judges and lawyers. The author also summarizes the responses of 18 governments to these letters. These cases were reported to her from 16 March 2010 to 15 March 2011. Cases are organized by country. The main areas of concern were threats to lawyers, including acts of interference in the discharge of their professional functions (28%). Issues relating to the fairness of judicial proceedings which include the right to be informed of the charges and undue delays in judicial proceedings, amount to 21% of the cases. In about 14% of the communications, a lack of access to a lawyer is alleged, often observed in places of detention. There were concerns on the independence of the judiciary in about 10% of the cases, in particular interference in the judicial functions and threats to lawyers and prosecutors. Lawsuits against lawyers relating to civil, criminal and disciplinary charges constitute 7% of the cases. 6% concern allegations relating to the lack of access to courts. Cases which raise issues regarding impunity amount to 5% of the communications. 4% of the cases relate to military courts trying civilians, and the same percentage concerns restriction on the freedom of expression of lawyers. Finally, 10% cover other issues, such as freedom of expression of lawyers, impunity, access to a lawyer in private, tenure, removal and appointment of judges, and disbarment of lawyers.