A/HRC/4/102 page 4 Introduction 1. The Human Rights Council, by its decision 2/102 of 6 October 2006, requested the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner for Human Rights to “continue with the fulfilment of their activities, in accordance with all previous decisions adopted by the Commission on Human Rights and to update the relevant reports and studies”. 2. In its resolution 2004/43, the Commission on Human Rights requested the Secretary-General to submit a report to the Commission at its sixty-third session on “systemwide practical measures taken and planned activities to assist countries in strengthening their systems of administration of justice, in particular juvenile justice, including in post-conflict situations, with special focus on the need to strengthen the role of judges”. 3. Although not covering all countries in strengthening their systems of administration of justice, this report covers a substantial number of situations (Angola, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Burundi, Bhutan, Cameroon, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Fiji, Georgia (Abkhazia), Guatemala, Iraq, Lebanon, Nepal, Nicaragua, Palestine, South Africa and Tajikistan) where the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has been involved in activities relating to the administration of justice.1 4. This report covers activities undertaken from 2004 through 2006, and, when available, contains information on plans for 2007, and includes situations where the contribution of OHCHR has been made through a human right component in a peace operation, a human rights office within a mission of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), a stand alone OHCHR field office or through an activity implemented in a country where there is no OHCHR field presence. This diversity of experiences, as well as geographic diversity in countries represented, is intended to provide insights into the different types of assistance provided at the country level, taking into account widely different conditions that vary considerably from country to country. 5. This report does not focus on transitional justice mechanisms specially created to address issues of gross violations of human rights such as truth and reconciliation commissions, hybrid tribunals or related initiatives. Information is available on such situations in separate thematic reports on transitional justice (A/HRC/4/87) and impunity (A/HRC/4/84) that are also submitted to the Council at its fourth session, as well as in country reports.2 1 The information in this report is based on information gathered from the field presences of OHCHR, information available at OHCHR Geneva and official reports and documents. 2 Cambodia, for example, is in the process of establishing a hybrid international tribunal, and Liberia has established a truth and reconciliation commission. See, respectively, Report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for human rights in Cambodia, Yash Ghai (A/HRC/4/36); and Report of the independent expert on technical cooperation and advisory services in Liberia, Charlotte Okola (A/HRC/4/6).