A/HRC/32/34
penalty. A dozen communications contained allegations of violations of the rights and
independence of lawyers, which included killings, attacks, threats, intimidation, harassment
and detention, as well as undue restrictions on their work. A few communications raised
issues concerning undue pressures on prosecutors, and threats, attacks and intimidation
directed against judges, as well as enforced disappearances and incommunicado detentions.
13.
The Special Rapporteur wishes to underline that the above-mentioned
communications exclusively reflect information that was transmitted to her and was
subsequently acted upon. Complaints that contained insufficient information, that fell
outside the scope of the mandate, or that the Special Rapporteur was not in a position to act
upon owing to time, workload or other constraints, are not reflected in the numbers
provided in the present report. Besides, problems regarding the independence and
impartiality of the justice system are not limited to the States or entities to which
communications were sent. Therefore, the fact that a particular State or entity may not have
received a communication should not be interpreted as indicating that there are no
challenges concerning the independence and impartiality of the judiciary and the
administration of justice in that State or entity.
14.
At the time of writing the present report, the overall reply rate for the
communications sent by the Special Rapporteur was 42 per cent. The Special Rapporteur
wishes to encourage States to reply promptly to all the communications that they receive
and to address the specific violations and concerns identified therein in a meaningful way,
in particular when the communications concern time-sensitive issues that may have
irreversible consequences for people.
15.
The Special Rapporteur used media releases to bring public attention to situations
that she identified as particularly concerning. Excluding press releases and public
statements related to her country visit, she issued a total of 10 media releases; 9 of those
addressed specific country situations across regional groups and 1 focused on a particular
theme related to the mandate. All 10 media releases were sent jointly with other special
procedure mandate holders.
C.
Other activities
16.
Shortly after she took up her duties, from 14 to 18 September 2015, the Special
Rapporteur was in Geneva for a series of meetings and consultations.
17.
On 15 September 2015, she participated as a moderator in a side event of the Human
Rights Council entitled “Judges, lawyers, prosecutors and human rights: 30 years of UN
action”. The event was convened by the International Bar Association’s Human Rights
Institute and the International Commission of Jurists. It was co-sponsored by the Permanent
Missions of Australia, Botswana, Hungary, Ireland and Thailand, and the Council of
Europe, as well as by the Association for the Prevention of Torture, Avocats sans frontières,
the Colombian Commission of Jurists, the Commonwealth Lawyers Association, the
Commonwealth Magistrates and Judges Association, the International Legal Assistance
Consortium, Judges for Judges, and Lawyers for Lawyers.
18.
The side event commemorated the thirtieth anniversary of the Basic Principles on
the Independence of the Judiciary,1 and the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Basic Principles
1
Adopted by the seventh United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of
Offenders, held in Milan, Italy, from 26 August to 6 September 1985, and endorsed in General
Assembly resolutions 40/32 and 40/146.
5
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