International Commission of Jurists

Description

International Commission of Jurists is a non-governmental organization of judges and lawyers who work to advance the rule of law and human rights worldwide. Its Commissioners are sixty eminent judges and lawyers from around the world, chosen for their experience and commitment to human rights. It has legal advisors based in the countries and regions they cover, with offices in Geneva, Brussels, Bangkok, Tunis and Kathmandu. It has national sections and affiliates in more than seventy countries.

The organization develops and promotes international human rights law and standards, defends them when they come under attack, and works to ensure the independence of judges, lawyers and prosecutors. It carries out inquiry commissions, trial observations, fact-finding missions and quiet diplomacy on human rights issues. It also runs a Centre for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, created in 1978, which investigates threats to judicial independence and supports lawyers and judges facing persecution.

The ICJ traces its founding to 1952, when a group of lawyers meeting in Berlin decided to found an organization dedicated to defending human rights through the rule of law; it was formally established in 1953 and moved its headquarters to Geneva in 1958. Since then it has held periodic World Congresses that adopt declarations on the rule of law, contributed to drafting international instruments such as the UN Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary, and supported the creation of the International Criminal Court in 1998.