Summary

In the present report, submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 35/11, the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers focuses on the essential role that the Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary have played as guarantors of judicial independence, and the status of threats and challenges to the independence of judges and lawyers and the judicial system as a whole, including prosecutors, in the current global context.

In the report, the Special Rapporteur emphasizes that, after 34 years since the adoption of the Basic Principles, in 1985, more progress is needed in order to face contemporary challenges. In this regard, two subjects emerge as a clear priority: first, the threat of global and transnational corruption and its impact on soc iety and institutions, including the judiciary as a whole, taking into account the key role that the United Nations Convention against Corruption has to play in this regard; and second, the integration into the Basic Principles of the principles established in the Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct, absent from the text adopted in 1985, with a special focus on the principle of integrity.

The Special Rapporteur offers some recommendations with the aim of promoting the launching of a process of analysis and debate in order to expand the Basic Principles, so that they may serve as an instrument for dealing with some of the changes that have occurred since their adoption.