The newly appointed Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Margaret Satterthwaite, presented her first report at the Human Rights Council. She gave her vision for the mandate, setting out the need to reimagine access to justice and the rule of law, paying special attention to those who bear the brunt of deep inequalities, systematic discrimination and persistent marginalization. She also outlines the challenges to the independence of judges and lawyers that she will prioritize in her work. She describes her methods of work, and how she will interact with all the relevant stakeholders, and the report ends with conclusions and recommendations regarding how Governments in particular may engage with her office. She did not gave further recommendations, as she did not address the various topics that she plans to prioritize.
As nowadays challenges to justice exist in all regions, the new mandate holder believes that this moment calls for a fundamental reimagining – or, in some cases, a recommitment to – the rule of law and access to justice. Reimagining access to justice requires ensuring that all people can enjoy the whole range of human rights – civil, political, economic, social and cultural. Lawyers and community-based justice advocates play a key role in this endeavour, but reimagining access to justice entails embracing an expanded legal ecosystem and recognising the power and promise of community-based justice advocates, such as community paralegals, “barefoot lawyers” and legal navigators, to expand and improve legal services and support for isolated and underserved communities.
As the Special Rapporteur considers the independence of the judiciary to be an issue of vital importance in the common struggle for the realisation of human rights and a key safeguard against rising authoritarianism, she will not only build on the work of previous mandate holders on this topic, but will also explore contemporary challenges and best practices in strengthening judicial independence. Regarding judicial independence, these challenges are such as Autocratization and democratic decay, Climate crisis and climate-related displacement, Digital technologies (entailing disinformation, online attacks and artificial intelligence), Efforts by businesses and those with economic advantages to unduly influence the judiciary, Systemic inequalities and discrimination that threaten independence, Strengthening respect for the independence of Indigenous Peoples’ justice systems, Challenges to judicial integrity, Strengthening the role of independent prosecutors in protecting human rights. Regarding the independence of lawyers and access to justice, the challenges she points out are Targeting of lawyers, Dismantling harmful structures and practices within the profession and Closing the justice gap by expanding the legal ecosystem.
About her methods of work, besides engaging with member States, judicial and legal professional associations, judges, lawyers, community-based justice advocates, members of civil society and others on issues of relevance to the mandate, the Special Rapporteur wants to prioritize direct exchanges with rights holders in her activities. She will use communications to draw the attention of Governments and others to alleged human rights violations, and to seek to ensure that any violations are prevented, stopped or investigated, and future thematic reports will be used to highlight and explore priority areas and to disseminate best practices for tackling complex and urgent issues. Since assuming the mandate, she has extended requests to a number of countries to visit them, and she hopes for positive responses. She also plans to play a constructive role as a convenor and disseminator of best practices, including through the organization of and participation in workshops, training and information exchanges.
She plans to convene diverse and globally representative advisory groups to advise her throughout her mandate on the issues she intends to address, such as strengthening the relationship between her mandate, the people most affected by human rights violations related to her mandate and the wider public; incorporating participatory methods into her activities and increasing the accountability of her office to rights holders; and bringing a feminist, intersectional and anti-racist lens to her work. It also seeks to develop accessible multimedia products in multiple languages and to use social media and news media to more effectively gather and disseminate relevant information and ensure greater transparency.
As noted above, the recommendations are limited to ways in which Governments can engage with her office, such as by taking measures to protect and strengthen an independent and impartial judiciary and legal profession, and by cooperating with and assisting the Special Rapporteur, including by responding positively to her requests for visits and providing timely and meaningful replies to her communications.
The Special Rapporteur welcomes the engagement with judicial and bar associations, judges, prosecutors, lawyers, community-based justice advocates, civil society organisations and others with the mandate. She looks forward to receiving their concerns, responding to alleged violations, documenting best practices and engaging in constructive dialogue.
Know more
On the HRC 53rd session report of the SR on the independence of judges and lawyers
On the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers
https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-independence-of-judges-and-lawyers
July 2023