A/HRC/44/47/Add.1 62. In Uzbekistan, women continue to be a small minority on the bench. According to recent estimates, out of a total of 1,038 judges, only 129 (12.4 per cent) were women. 19 The gender gap is particularly evident in criminal and administrative courts, where women represent approximately 8 per cent of the total number of judges (25 out of 319 and 18 out of 203, respectively). 20 No data are available about the percentage of women judges sitting in the top-ranking position. 63. According to State authorities, the low representation of women in the judiciary, and especially in criminal and administrative courts, is the result of women’s educational and professional choices. The authorities indicate that women opt for occupations that offer a better life-work balance, and within the judiciary, prefer to work on family issues rather than being involved in more complex and time-consuming criminal and administrative issues. 64. The Special Rapporteur does not share this view. The underrepresentation of women in the judiciary may be a reflection of deep-rooted stereotypes concerning the roles and responsibilities of women and men in the family and in society, stereotypes that result in discrimination against women and the perpetuation of their subordination within the family and society. The low representation of women in the judiciary and their concentration in civil courts seem to reflect the traditional and patriarchal societal structure of the country. B. Prosecutors 65. Prosecutors play a central role in the administration of justice. Since prosecutors are appointed by the executive branch in some jurisdictions or are dependent on this branch to some extent, international standards do not expressly require that the prosecution service be independent from other State institutions. Nevertheless, respect for human rights and the rule of law presuppose a strong prosecutorial authority in charge of investigating and prosecuting criminal offences with independence and impartiality from political power. 66. The Guidelines on the Role of Prosecutors require States to adopt all appropriate measures to ensure that as essential agents of the administration of justice, prosecutors can carry out their professional functions impartially and objectively, without intimidation, hindrance, harassment, improper interference or unjustified exposure to civil, penal or other liability (guideline 4). In order to guarantee the proper discharge of prosecutorial functions, States have a duty to provide reasonable conditions of service, adequate remuneration and, where applicable, security of tenure (guideline 6), and to protect prosecutors and their families when their personal safety is threatened as a result of the discharge of prosecutorial functions (guideline 5). 67. In assessing the independence and impartiality of prosecutors, it is important to examine both the structural independence of prosecution services, which depends on the prosecution model applied in the domestic legal system, and their operational independence and impartiality, or functional independence (A/HRC/20/19, para. 26). 1. Selection and appointment 68. According to the Law on Public Prosecution, the Prosecutor-General is appointed for a period of five years by the President with the subsequent approval of the Senate (art. 12). Neither the Constitution nor the Law on Public Prosecution spell out the qualifications that candidates for this position must possess or the procedure for their selection and appointment. Similarly, the grounds for the Prosecutor-General’s dismissal or the procedure to follow are not regulated by the law. 19 20 12 There seems to be a negative trend in relation to women’s representation in the judiciary: in 2015, the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women had already expressed concerns at the decline in the number of women judges, who then represented 13 per cent of the total workforce (CEDAW/C/UZB/CO/5, para. 21). Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Anti-Corruption Reforms in Uzbekistan, p. 92.