Summary

The Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Diego García-Sayán, has devoted the present report, the first that he is submitting to the General Assembly, to the issue of organized crime and its impact on the justice system. Owing to the substantial threat that judicial corruption linked to organized crime poses for the independence and impartiality of the judiciary, the Special Rapporteur has identified this issue as one of the topics that he will address during his mandate.

Following a summary of the activities carried out under this mandate since January 2017, the focus of the report is on the link between organized crime and judicial corruption, the threats generated thereby and, in turn, the challenges posed to justice systems and the legal professions. The Special Rapporteur emphasizes the vital importance of the United Nations Convention against Corruption and the fact that, as a key tool for addressing corruption, the Convention should also be considered a basic international instrument for protecting human rights.

In particular, the report seeks to identify (a) the causes and factors that generate judicial corruption through organized crime; (b) the extent of corruption and its impact on the judiciary and society as a whole; and (c) the main modalities and tactics used by organized crime. On the basis of this analysis, the Special Rapporteur identifies a number of good practices to prevent and combat corruption related to organized crime and concludes the report with a list of recommendations.