A/HRC/32/34 Report of the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers Contents Page I. Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 3 II. Activities since 1 August 2015 ......................................................................................................... 3 A. Country visits .......................................................................................................................... 3 B. Communications and press releases ......................................................................................... 4 C. Other activities ......................................................................................................................... 5 The independence of the justice system revisited ............................................................................ 7 A. Origins of the mandate ............................................................................................................. 7 B. International legal framework .................................................................................................. 8 C. Need for a democratic context ................................................................................................. 9 D. Committing to the independence of judges and lawyers ......................................................... 10 E. Building a domestic culture of judicial independence ............................................................. 11 IV. Indicators ......................................................................................................................................... 11 V. Conclusions and considerations ....................................................................................................... 13 III. 2