A/HRC/38/38 B. Regional standards 23. The general functions, composition and core competencies of judicial councils are dealt with in a number of principles, guidelines and recommendations adopted by associations or summits of judges at the regional level. Some of these instruments only focus on judicial appointments,5 while others provide a more comprehensive analysis of the role judicial councils should play in securing the independence and autonomy of the judiciary.6 24. The most comprehensive efforts to develop minimum standards relating to the creation, membership and role of judicial councils have been undertaken in Europe, under the aegis of the Council of Europe. Initially, these efforts focused on the need to ensure that the selection and career development of judges be made with “the intervention of an authority independent of the executive and legislative powers within which at least one half of those who sit are judges elected by their peers following methods guaranteeing the widest representation of the judiciary”.7 25. These instruments have now been supplemented by more detailed standards relating to the composition and functions of judicial councils. In 2007, the Consultative Council of European Judges adopted, at the request of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, an opinion on the council for the judiciary at the service of society. This opinion provides a comprehensive analysis of the composition and functions of judicial councils.8 The Magna Carta of Judges, adopted by the Consultative Council in 2010, also recommends the establishment of “a Council for the Judiciary or another specific body, itself independent from legislative and executive powers, endowed with broad competences for all questions concerning [the status of judges] as well as the organisation, the functioning and the image of judicial institutions”.9 In 2010, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted a new recommendation on judicial independence, which included a specific chapter on councils for the judiciary, as well as detailed provisions on their authority and functions.10 26. In 2013, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights published a report on the guarantees for the independence of justice operators in the Americas, which include a specific section on the organs of governance and administration of such operators.11 The Commission noted that, although no provision of international law requires the creation of such a body, the establishment of independent bodies charged with the administration and 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 6 See the Beijing Statement of Principles of the Independence of the Judiciary in the LAWASIA [Law Association for Asia and the Pacific] Region, adopted at the 6th Conference of Chief Justices of Asia and the Pacific, held in Beijing on 19 August 1995; and the Commonwealth’s Latimer House Guidelines on Parliamentary Supremacy and Judicial Independence, adopted on 19 June 1998. See the Istanbul Declaration on Transparency in the Judicial Process, adopted by the Conference of Chief Justices and Senior Justices of the Asian Region, held in Istanbul from 20 to 22 November 2013; and the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Kyiv Recommendations on Judicial Independence in Eastern Europe, South Caucasus and Central Asia: Judicial Administration, Selection and Accountability, 2010 (hereinafter, “Kyiv Recommendations on Judicial Independence”). See Council of Europe, European Charter on the Statute of Judges, 1998, art. 1.3. See also the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers, recommendation No. R (94) 12 on the independence, efficiency and role of judges, 1994, principle 1, para. 2 (c). Consultative Council of European Judges, opinion No. 10 (2007) on the council for the judiciary at the service of society, 23 November 2007 (hereinafter, “opinion No. 10 of the Consultative Council of European Judges”). See Magna Carta of Judges (Fundamental Principles), adopted at the 11th plenary meeting of the Consultative Council of European Judges, held in Strasbourg, France, from 17 to 19 November 2010, para. 13. Council of Europe Committee of Ministers, recommendation CM/Rec(2010)12 on judges: independence, efficiency and responsibilities, 2010. See Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, “Guarantees for the independence of justice operators: towards strengthening access to justice and the rule of law in the Americas” (December 2013), paras. 240–248.