A/HRC/20/19
belongs to all Mexican women, will be presented to the Human Rights Council. The
celebration gathered some 1,200 people, 700 of which were women.
III. International standards for prosecutors
19.
The Special Rapporteur notes the wide variety of criminal justice systems
throughout the world and the differences in the role and status of prosecutors and
prosecution services. This has made the development of common international standards
for prosecutors more difficult.
20.
At the global level, the main instrument specifically aimed at regulating the
profession of prosecutors is the Guidelines on the role of prosecutors3 (hereinafter the
United Nations Guidelines). Although not a binding instrument, the United Nations
Guidelines were formulated “to assist Member States in their tasks of securing and
promoting the effectiveness, impartiality and fairness of prosecutors in criminal
proceedings” in domestic law and practice (preamble). This instrument contains 24
guidelines applicable to the qualifications, status, role and functions of prosecutors. The
United Nations Guidelines should be brought to the attention of prosecutors, as well as the
judiciary, the legal profession, members of the executive and the legislature and the public
in general.
21.
The Standards of professional responsibility and statement of the essential duties
and rights of prosecutors4 (hereinafter the IAP Standards of professional responsibility),
adopted by the International Association of Prosecutors (IAP) on 23 April 1999,
complement the United Nations Guidelines. The IAP is comprised of more than 145
organizational members from over 96 different jurisdictions, counting over 1,000 individual
members.5 The IAP Standards of professional responsibility were endorsed by the United
Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in its resolution 17/2 of 18
April 2008.
22.
A few other international instruments contain provisions applicable to prosecutors.
For instance, article 11 of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, 6 requires
Member States to take measures to strengthen integrity and prevent opportunities for
corruption within the judiciary and also within the prosecution services in States Parties
where they do not form part of the judiciary.
23.
In addition, a number of instruments have been adopted at the regional level, notably
under the auspices of the Council of Europe, to provide further guidance on the status and
role of prosecutors and on the safeguards needed to perform their important function. These
include the Council of Europe Recommendation on the role of public prosecution in the
criminal justice system, 6 October 2000 (Rec (2000) 19); the 2005 European Guidelines on
ethics and conduct for public prosecutors (the Budapest Guidelines) (CPGE(2005)05); and
the 2009 Bordeaux Declaration on Judges and prosecutors in a democratic society of the
Consultative Council of European Judges (CCJE) and the Consultative Council of
European Prosecutors (CCPE) (CM(2009)192).
3
4
5
6
Guidelines on the role of prosecutors, adopted by the Eighth United Nations Congress on the
Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, Havana, Cuba, 27 August to 7 September 1990.
International Association of Prosecutors (IAP), Standards of professional responsibility and statement
of the essential duties and rights of prosecutors, 23 April 1999.
See IAP website: http://www.iap-association.org/default.aspx.
General Assembly resolution 58/4 (2003), annex.
5
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