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EU Statement – UN General Assembly 3rd Committee: Interactive dialogue on Independence of Judges and Lawyers

21.10.2023
New York
Press and information team of the Delegation to the UN in New York

20 October 2023, New York – European Union Statement at the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly Third Committee Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Ms. Margaret SATTERTHWAITE

 

 

Thank you Mr. Chair,

Madam Special Rapporteur,

Let me begin by congratulating you to your appointment and thank you for your comprehensive report and included recommendations. Please be assured of the EU’s full commitment in support of your work.

For the coming years, what are the most pressing issues that you would like to address in your mandate?

Madam Special Rapporteur,

In your current report you address the urgent need for meaningful access to justice for all and empowering individuals and communities to use, shape and transform laws. An important aspect raised is the need for data on access to justice, however, those that are discriminated against and marginalized are often excluded from such data. Many do not engage with formal justice institutions because of experienced discrimination and they are poorly represented among lawyers and the judiciary as a whole. Intersecting forms of discrimination, exclusion and marginalization are therefore perpetuated in legal systems.

Madame Special Rapporteur,

SDG 16.3 is an enabler for other rights, legal empowerment underlines the centrality of access to justice to ensuring human rights for all. We therefore read your report with interest about how the legal ecosystem needs to embrace community justice workers, including human rights defenders and civil society, to become more accessible for persons in vulnerable situations, and that this is particularly important in the context of sexual and gender-based violence.

Can you provide examples of best practices in relation to a multistakeholder, community-based approach on delivering on SDG 16.3?

Madame Rapporteur, the final chapter of the report is devoted to the role of lawyers and judges in legal empowerment. Could you elaborate on the relevance of the impartiality and independence of the judiciary in this context?

As you note in your report, community justice workers, particularly those advocating for women’s rights, human rights of LGBTI persons, or environmental human rights defenders, face SLAPPs, harassments, online and physical attacks. This is emblematic for a closing civic space. The EU therefore reiterates its full commitment to ensure safe and enabling environment for civil society activism and participation.

I thank you.