United Nations A/HRC/25/L.5
General Assembly Distr.: Limited
20 March 2014
Original: English
Human
Rights Council
Twenty-fifth
session
Agenda item 3
Promotion
and protection of all human rights, civil,
political,
economic, social and cultural rights,
including
the right to development
Belarus,*
China, Cuba, Democratic People's Republic of Korea,* Kyrgyzstan,* Russian
Federation, Sri Lanka,* Sudan,* Tajikistan,* Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic
of): draft resolution [* Non-member State of the Human Rights Council]
25/… 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, 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 and the
Safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death
penalty, as well as the Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct,
Recalling further its resolution 19/31 of 23 March 2012 and the
previous resolutions on the subject of the Commission on Human Rights,
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,
Stressing that the integrity of the judiciary should be observed at
all times,
1. Takes note of the
report of the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers on
the administration of justice through military tribunals submitted to the
General Assembly at its sixty-eighth session [A/68/285];
2. Also takes note of
conclusions and recommendations made by the Special Rapporteur in her report,
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 of
law 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/her rights and obligations and of any criminal
charge against him/her, and that he/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. 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;
8. 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;
9. Reaffirms that
every convicted person should have the right to have his/her conviction and
sentence reviewed by a tribunal of competent, independent and impartial
jurisdiction according to law;
10. Calls upon States
that have military courts or special tribunals for trying criminal offenders to
ensure that such bodies are 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;
11. 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;
12. Requests the United
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to convene prior to the
twenty-eighth session of the Human Rights Council an expert consultation with
the participation of representatives of States the special procedures,
including the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, the
chairperson-rapporteurs of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary
Disappearances and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the treaty bodies
and regional human rights mechanisms, as well as non-governmental organizations
and national human rights institutions for an exchange of views on human rights
considerations relating to the issues of administration of justice through
military tribunals and the role of the integral judicial system in combating
human rights violations;
13. Also requests the
High Commissioner to provide all the assistance and support necessary for the
expert consultation;
14. Further requests the
High Commissioner to present a summary of the discussions held during the
expert consultation to the Human Rights Council at its twenty-eighth session;
15. Invites the Special
Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers to take full account of
the present resolution in the discharge of her mandate;
16. Decides to continue
consideration of this issue in accordance with its annual programme of work.
_____
P.S. The United States opposed this resolution. In doing so, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Paula G. Schriefer stated, among other things, that
_____
 |
| Hon. Paula G. Schriefer |
"we must note that we are surprised to see this Member State [Russia] sponsor a resolution touting the rule of law immediately following its blatant violation of international law and of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity."The Secretariat estimated that the activities proposed in the resolution, which was approved on March 27, 2014, would cost $291,700.
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