Summary

In a climate of increasing economic inequality, corporations and wealthy individuals in many places use their financial clout to infringe on the independence of the judiciary by attempting to intervene in processes to determine who becomes a judge, and to lobby sitting judges to make them more receptive to their aims. These actors also weaponize justice systems to achieve their goals, bringing strategic lawsuits against public participation that masquerade as a defence of private interests, but in fact seek to suppress legitimate criticism, oversight or resistance to their activities. In the present report, the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Margaret Satterthwaite, examines improper economic influence on judicial systems, recommending that ethics and integrity systems should be strengthened, loopholes closed, and judges, prosecutors and lawyers do their part to address these harms. If not, while some voices are privileged by justice systems, others will be shut out or silenced, with devastating impacts for human rights.