Human rights in the administration of justice

1988/33. Human rights in the administration of justice

The Commission on Human Rights, Guided by the principles embodied in articles 3, 5, 9, 10 and 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as the relevant provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, in particular article 6, which explicitly states that no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life, Guided also by the relevant principles embodied in the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and in the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, Calling attention to the Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power and the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty, as well as to the Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary, the Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials and the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, Considering the importance of progress with regard to the draft Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment (A/34/146, annex), Mindful of the various proposals for the elaboration of a second optional protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on the elimination of the death penalty, as well as of the prohibition under article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of the imposition of the death penalty for crimes committed by persons below 18 years of age, Further guided by relevant General Assembly resolutions, in particular resolution 42/143 of 7 December 1987 on human rights in the administration of justice, Recalling its resolution 1987/33 of 10 March 1987,

1. Reiterates its call upon Member States to spare no effort in providing for effective legislative and other mechanisms and procedures and adequate resources to ensure more effective implementation of existing international standards relating to human rights in the administration of justice;

2. Emphasizes again the importance of education and public information programmes in the field of human rights for law students, the legal profession and all those responsible for the administration of justice;

3. Recognizes the important role that non-governmental organizations, including professional associations of lawyers and judges, can play in promoting human rights in the administration of justice;

4. Urges the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities to pursue vigorously its consideration of the issue of the independence and impartiality of the judiciary, jurors and assessors and the independence of lawyers, on the basis of the report of its Special Rapporteur on this subject, and to formulate, as a matter of priority, its concrete recommendations on this issue;

5. Requests the Sub-Commission to continue to give attention to the question of a declaration against unacknowledged detention of persons, as well as to the question of states of siege or emergency;

6. Reminds the Sub-Commission of its request that, when carrying out its annual review of the human rights of persons subjected to any form of detention or imprisonment, it should include in its consideration the work of the Human Rights Committee and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the developments elsewhere in the human rights programme and the activities within the United Nations programme on crime prevention and control bearing upon the subject, and requests the Secretary-General to continue making available to the Sub-Commission succinct information on these matters;

7. Calls upon its special rapporteurs and working groups to give particular attention to questions relating to the effective protection of human rights in the administration of justice, in particular with regard to unacknowledged detention of persons;

8. Notes with appreciation that measures have been taken to ensure close co-operation between the Centre for Human Rights and the Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs on matters relating to human rights in the administration of justice and that a focal point has been created within the Centre for Human Rights to monitor the aspects relating to human rights in the administration of justice within the various elements of the United Nations human rights programme, the programme on crime prevention and control, and the work of the specialized agencies, regional organizations and non-governmental organizations in consultative status, and to provide, as appropriate, advice on co-ordination and other relevant issues in the field;

9. Requests the Secretary-General to provide the necessary resources to carry out the tasks mentioned in paragraph 8;

10. Expresses the hope that the Human Rights Committee and regional human rights institutions established by regional human rights instruments will endeavour to study possible areas of co-operation with human rights bodies of the United Nations system in this field and inform the Commission of their reflections on this matter;

11. Requests the Secretary-General to continue to assist Member States, at their request, in implementing existing international human rights standards in the administration of justice, in particular under the programme of advisory services;

12. Decides to consider the question of human rights in the administration of justice at its forty-fifth session under the agenda item "Question of the human rights of all persons subjected to any form of detention or imprisonment".

52nd meeting
8 March 1988
[Adopted without a vote. See chap. X.]