conferences

Regional  Conferences

Cairo- February 21-24, 2003]

Second Arab Justice Conference

“Supporting and Promoting the Independence of Judiciary”

Overview of the conference:

The second Arab justice conference, “Supporting and Promoting the Independence of Judiciary”, was held on February 21-24, 2003 in Cairo, Egypt.  The conference was organized by the Arab Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession in cooperation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the United Nations Development Program. Sixteen Research papers were presented and attended by nineteen speakers and seventy five participants of International and Arab jurists, media and diplomatic figures.

·        Opening Ceremony and reception:

The opening session and reception convened on Friday , February 21^st ,2003  at the Journalist Association – Main hall Cairo. This session chaired by Ms. Tahany Al-Gebaly, Justice of Supreme Constitutional Court.

·        Introductory Remarks:

The Arab Center for Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession (ACIJLP) Mr. Nasser Amin , Director

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Dr. Adel Abdel Latif, regional coordinator, Good Governance in Arab countries program.

The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNOHCHR) Dr. Amin Mecki Madani, regional representative

The Arab League States Mr. Mahmoud Rashed, Director, Human Rights administration 

Three hundred participants of international and regional jurists, media and diplomatic were participated. M. Tahany Al-Gebaly. Justice of Supreme Constitutional Court, was honored for her role of judiciary in defending human rights and independence of judiciary as well as she is the first woman judge in Egypt.

·         Six General Panels:

Work groups:-

The conference included four parallel work groups in order to conduct detailed discussions and to present necessary final recommendations of the conference as the following:

 First group: (Guarantees for the Independence of the judiciary) included:

a.       The Impact of Lack of Enforcement of the provisions according to Judicial Independence.

b.       Financial Independence of judges: The Relationship with the Executive authority.

c.       Judicial competent and its role towards independent judges.

d.       Guarantees for Personal Security of the Judge.

e.        the interference of the Ministries Council  and the Ministry of Justice in judicial authority affairs

Second group: (Independence and impartiality of the Individual Judge) included:

a.         Privileges and immunity of individual judge.

b.        Impartiality of the Judge and the Principle of Judicial Independence .

c.         The Impact of Customs and Tribal power on the Independence of the authority.

Third  group: (The Relation among powers) included:

a.       The impact of the State of Emergency on the judicial authority & judges.

b.       The Role of the executive power on the statute for judges.

 c.       The Impact of Judicial Independence on compacting immunity.

 Fourth group: (The Role of Civil Society in Judicial Independence) included:

a.       The impact of the judicial weakness on the principle of judicial independence.

b.       The Role of Tribal Arbitration.

c.       Freedom of Opinion and Expression as a Principle of Judicial Independence.

Chairs of general sessions: 

Chairs & Rapporteurs of Work Groups :

Research Papers:

Participants: (75 persons)

Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Bahrain, Egypt, France, United States of America, Costa Rika, Geneva, Sri Lanka, Lebanon, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Yemen and Mauritania.

International Organization :( 9 organization)

·United Nations Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)

·United Nations Development Program (UNDP)

·Arab League States

·International Organization of Francophone Countries

·International Commission of Jurists

·International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES)

·Judicial group for promoting judicial indignity UN

·Association of Judges in Paris

·No Peace Without Justice

 Egyptian Governmental Organizations :( 2)

·Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

·Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies - Egypt

  Arab NGOs (7)

a.       Arab Organization for Human Rights-Egypt

b.      The Center of Alternative Development Studies-Egypt

c.       Bahrain Human Rights Organization-Bahrain

d.      Egyptian organization for Human Rights-Egypt

e.       Arab Commission for Human Rights-France

f.        Iraqi Network for Human Rights-England

g.       Syrian Forum for Human Rights-Syria

Scientific institutions :(9)

1.      Tunisia University

2.      Reyadh University

3.      Lebanon University

4.      Gorge Washington University

5.      National Institute for Algerain Judiciary

6.      Cairo University

7.      BaniSwief University

8.      Tnta University

9.      Alexandria University

 Media coverage :( 22)

·         News Nile

·         Channel Three (The legal view program)

·         Orbit channel

·         Tanwier channel

·         General program radio

·         Cultural program radio

 Recommendations:

 Cairo Declaration on Judicial Independence

 The Second Arab Justice Conference

“Supporting and Promoting the Independence of Judiciary”

Cairo – February 21-24, 2003

The second Arab justice conference, “Supporting and Promoting the Independence of Judiciary”, was held on February 21-24, 2003 in Cairo, Egypt.  The conference was organized by the Arab Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession in cooperation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the United Nations Development Program.  A number of research papers on the status of judicial independence in Arab countries including Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Bahrain were presented.  In addition, the lessons learned in various experiments with judicial independence were presented from jurisdictions such as France, Costa Rica and Latin America.  The results of research studies from specialist organizations such as International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) and the International Organization of Francophone Countries were also presented.

The participants to the conference adopted the following Cairo Declaration on Judicial Independence.

Cairo Declaration on Judicial Independence

Preamble

The participants to the Second Arab Justice Conference:

Recognizing that an independent judiciary is a central pillar in guaranteeing public freedoms, human rights, comprehensive development processes, the reform of trade and investments and trade cooperation between countries and the establishment of democratic institutions,

 Affirming that the main obstacle to judicial independence in most Arab countries is the absence of an institutional approach especially in judiciary,

  Emphasizing that the absence of democracy and the rule of law have played an crucial role in violating the principle of judicial independence,

 Acknowledging that the interference of the executive powers in the judicial authority including the appointment, transferal, promotion, discharge and management of judges professional affairs occurs in most Arab countries and is an obstacle to establishing an independent judiciary,

 Recognizing the deterioration of judicial education and the lack of culture supporting judicial independence,

 Recognizing that Arab legislation fails to  promote  the independence of the judiciary, and that the use of exceptional laws do not provide safeguards for the rule of law,

 We resolve to promote the following recommendations at both the governmental and non-governmental levels:

1.      Affirm among the three branches of government the commitment to the United Nations principles on the independence of the judiciary adopted by the General Assembly in 1985, and the Beirut Declaration of the first Arab justice conference in 1999.

2.      Adopt effective strategies (drafted by the judiciary) to implement the necessary legal reforms to protect judicial independence and the separation of powers in Arab countries.  Such strategies shall include the following:

a. Calling for the formation of specialized committees on judicial reform for each Arab country, composed of representatives of the three arms of government and civil society to establish practical steps to implement the United Nations fundamental principles on the independence of the judiciary.

b.                        Urging civil societies in the Arab region to establish an Arab network of institutions related to the status of justice and judicial independence. Such networks should aim to create a popular climate conducive to the promotion of judicial independence in the Arab region.

c. Calling for the establishment of a network of judicial and civil society institutions in the Arab region. One function of the network should be ongoing monitoring of the status of the independence of judiciary, and the publication of periodic reports on each Arab country regarding legislative developments in relation to the implementation of  relevant principles.

d.                         Forming a non-governmental Arab organization for judges in order to promote solidarity, exchange experiences, and strengthen the independence of judiciary.

e. Guaranteeing the financial independence of the judicial authority and inclu