A/HRC/35/31 institutions, academia and civil society organizations to elaborate strategies and approaches aimed at preventing the harmful influence of corruption and organized crime on the judiciary. A. 1. Mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers Origins of the mandate and commitment of the international community 9. The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers is derived from the concern expressed by the Commission on Human Rights at the frequency of attacks on judges, lawyers and court officials and the link it noted existed between the weakening of safeguards for the judiciary and lawyers and the gravity and frequency of human rights violations. It was established in resolution 1994/41 and last renewed by the Human Rights Council in resolution 26/7. In the first report of the mandate (E/CN.4/1995/39), the Special Rapporteur provided a detailed historical background in order to situate the mandate in the context of the considerable work which had been accomplished up until that time in elaborating international standards and seeking full respect for them. This historical background was recalled in a later report of the Special Rapporteur to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/32/34). 10. A solid international legal framework supports the purpose of the mandate. International and regional instruments relating to the scope of the mandate were first listed by the Special Rapporteur in his first report and interpreted, contextualized and applied by the successive mandate holders over more than 20 years. New instruments, such as the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the United Nations Convention against Corruption and the United Nations Principles and Guidelines on Access to Legal Aid in Criminal Justice Systems, and references to the jurisprudence of regional human rights courts and United Nations treaty bodies later joined this original listing. The Special Rapporteur will continue referring to and applying these standards in his work and will advocate for their dissemination and full implementation. In this context, it will be essential to recall that the requirements of independent and impartial justice are universal and that the general practice of providing independent and impartial justice constitutes an international custom in the sense of article 38 (1) (b) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice (see E/CN.4/1995/39, paras. 32 and 35). 2. Role of the Special Rapporteur and methods of work 11. The work of the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers is rich and complex as the scope of the mandate is rather extensive, encompassing issues such as access to justice, the independence and impartiality of the judiciary and the proper functioning of the justice system, the protection of individual judges, lawyers, prosecutors and court officials, and the right to a fair trial and due process of law. 12. To discharge his duties, the Special Rapporteur will follow the working methods established by his predecessors as well as by the special procedures of the Human Rights Council, and he intends to contribute to future discussions on how to improve these methods of work, including through participation in the annual meeting of special procedure mandate holders. 13. The Special Rapporteur wishes to underline that cooperation is essential for the discharge of the mandate, whether it be to carry out country visits, prepare thematic reports or gather information on cases or situations of concern. For this reason, he intends to establish and maintain direct contact with Member States, United Nations agencies and bodies, other special procedure mandate holders, professional associations of judges, lawyers and prosecutors, national human rights institutions, civil society organizations, academia and other relevant stakeholders throughout his tenure. The Special Rapporteur is convinced of the need to strengthen multilateral cooperation and coordination to address problems concerning the independence of judges and lawyers. 4