RES/31/2 Integrity of the judicial system

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Human Rights Council Thirty-first session

Agenda item 3

Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council on 23 March 2016

31/2. Integrity of the judicial system

The Human Rights Council,

Guided by articles 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human

Rights and articles 2, 4, 6, 7, 10, 14, 15, 16 and 26 of the International Covenant on Civil

and Political Rights, and bearing in mind the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action,

Recalling the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading

Treatment or Punishment and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons

from Enforced Disappearance,

Recalling also other important documents on the issue of the integrity of the

judiciary endorsed by various forums of the United Nations, in particular the Basic

Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary, the Basic Principles on the Role of

Lawyers, the Guidelines on the Role of Prosecutors, the Declaration of Basic Principles of

Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power, the Standard Minimum Rules for the

Treatment of Prisoners, the Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners, the Body of

Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment,

the Safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty, and

the Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct,

Recalling further its resolutions 19/31 of 23 March 2012 and 25/4 of 27 March

2014, and the previous relevant resolutions of the Commission on Human Rights,

Stressing that most of the provisions of the Convention against Torture and Other

Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment are not territorially limited and

cannot be read as restricting or limiting States’ obligations to respect the rights of all

persons, anywhere in the world, to be free from torture and ill-treatment,

Convinced that the integrity of the judicial system, together with its independence

and impartiality, is an essential prerequisite for the protection of human rights and

fundamental freedoms, for upholding the rule of law and democracy and ensuring that there

is no discrimination in the administration of justice,

Noting with concern that the lack of and discrimination in access to justice can cause

grave violations of the human rights of those deprived of such access,

United Nations A/HRC/RES/31/2

Stressing that the integrity of the judiciary should be observed at all times,

1. Notes the expert consultation on human rights considerations relating to the

administration of justice through military tribunals and the role of the integral judicial

system in combating human rights violations, held on 24 November 2014, in accordance

with Human Rights Council resolution 25/4, and the report on its outcome;1

2. Takes note of the conclusions and recommendations made by the Special

Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers in her report, submitted to the

General Assembly at its sixty-eighth session,2 in particular that military tribunals, when

they exist, must be an integral part of the general justice system and operate in accordance

with human rights standards, including by respecting the right to a fair trial and due process

guarantees;

3. Reaffirms the right of everyone to recognition everywhere as a person before

the law;

4. Reiterates that, as declared in article 14 of the International Covenant on

Civil and Political Rights, every person is entitled, in full equality, to a fair and public

hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal duly established by law in the

determination of his or her rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him or

her, and that he or she is entitled to the presumption of innocence until proved guilty

according to law;

5. Notes that, according to paragraph 5 of the Basic Principles on the

Independence of the Judiciary, everyone has the right to be tried by ordinary courts or

tribunals using established legal procedures, and that tribunals that do not use duly

established procedures of the legal process shall not be created to displace the jurisdiction

belonging to the ordinary courts or judicial tribunals;

6. Underlines that any court trying a person charged with a criminal offence

should be competent, independent and impartial;

7. Also underlines the importance of the full respect for the rule of law and the

guarantees of due process in order to ensure that all areas of public activities fall within the

reach of legal remedies;

8. Urges States to guarantee that all persons brought to trial before courts or

tribunals under their authority have the right to be tried in their presence, to defend

themselves in person or through legal assistance of their own choosing and to have all the

guarantees necessary for their legal defence;

9. Calls upon States to ensure that the principles of equality before the courts

and before the law are respected within their judicial systems by, inter alia, providing to

those being tried the possibility to examine, or to have examined, the witnesses against

them and to obtain the attendance and examination of witnesses on their behalf under the

same conditions as witnesses against them;

10. Urges States concerned to close down promptly all secret detention facilities

under their jurisdiction or control situated on their territories or abroad, and to ensure that

all persons held in detention under their authority are provided with access to justice by

ordinary courts acting in compliance with international due process and fair trial standards;

1 A/HRC/28/32.

2 A/68/285.

11. Calls upon States to investigate promptly and impartially all alleged cases of

extraordinary renditions, secret detention, torture and practices tantamount to torture or

other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, including under the pretext of countering

terrorism, and to hold accountable everyone implicated, including at the highest level of

authority, in ordering or executing those activities;

12. Also calls upon States to provide access to an effective remedy to all those

who have been subject to prolonged arbitrary arrest and/or physical and mental suffering

owing to lack of access to the general judicial system;

13. Reaffirms that every convicted person should have the right to have his or her

conviction and sentence reviewed by a tribunal of competent, independent and impartial

jurisdiction according to law;

14. Calls upon States that have military courts or special tribunals for trying

criminal offenders to ensure that such bodies are an integral part of the general judicial

system and that such courts apply procedures that are recognized according to international

law as guarantees of a fair trial, including the right to appeal a conviction and a sentence;

15. Stresses the importance of developing cooperation between national judicial

systems with a view to, inter alia, strengthening the protection of persons deprived of their

liberty;

16. Invites the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers,

the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or

punishment, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and

fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion

of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, the Working Group on

Arbitrary Detention and the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances to

take full account of the present resolution in the discharge of their mandates;

17. Decides to continue consideration of this issue in accordance with its annual

programme of work.

62nd meeting

23 March 2016

[Adopted without a vote.]