Throughout the life of JUSTICE, the UK legal community has been at the forefront of the development and promotion of international law and international human rights law. This global legal framework plays an important part in JUSTICE’s work in promoting respect for the rule of law and individual rights within our justice system.
The UK justice system is not just important domestically. As the birthplace of the common law, this country is often held up as a ‘Gold Standard’ for the way in which legal systems should operate the world over.
The UN treaty framework – the UK is bound by many UN Human Rights Treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) – exists to protect the rights of individuals at home and requires domestic law, policy and practice to respect minimum standards agreed on a global stage.
In its own right, and together with the International Commission of Jurists, JUSTICE works to promote respect for international human rights law within the justice system.
Respect for international human rights law plays a key role in our work, for example, encouraging the UK Government to initiate an independent judicial inquiry into allegations of complicity in the torture of detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries, consistent with our obligations in the UN Convention against Torture or questioning the compatibility of UK policy on the deportation of people to countries which use torture in violation of UNCAT and the ICCPR in reliance on diplomatic assurances.
International and comparative material is at the heart of many of our third party interventions in the domestic and European courts, for example, urging the Supreme Court to recognise the relevance of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in extradition and deportation of parents.
JUSTICE submissions to UN Treaty Bodies and Special Procedures
Where relevant to our work, JUSTICE makes submissions and shadow reports to UN monitoring bodies and special procedures tasked with supervising the UK’s respect for international human rights law.
JUSTICE Submission to the UN Committee against Torture (May 2013)
JUSTICE Submission to the UN Universal Periodic Review of the UK (Nov 2011)
JUSTICE and Liberty Joint Submission to the UN Universal Periodic Review of the UK (Nov 2007)
JUSTICE and Liberty Joint Submission on the UK Periodic Review (ICCPR) (Oct 2007)