UNITED NATIONS EXPERT ON INDEPENDENCE OF JUDGES AND LAWYERS TO VISIT BRAZIL

12 October 2004


The Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Leandro Despouy, will visit Brazil from October 13 to 25 at the invitation of the Government.

The Special Rapporteur intends to study the situation of the Judiciary, especially in the light of ongoing reforms. He will analyze the impact of such reforms on the independence of judges and lawyers and on equality of access to and treatment by the justice system. He will further assess those measures taken with a view to promoting awareness and respect of international human rights norms within the court system.

The Special Rapporteur will visit the cities of Brasília, São Paulo, Porto Alegre, Recife and Belém. He has requested to meet with various Ministers and other senior Government officials, judges and prosecutors at the Federal and State levels, as well as with judicial and bar associations, international organizations, national institutions and non-governmental organizations.

The Special Rapporteur will submit his findings and recommendations to the sixty-first session of the Commission on Human Rights next spring.

Mr. Despouy is president of the Auditoría General of Argentina, which audits the country’s public services. He was appointed Special Rapporteur in September 2003. He has extensive experience in human rights and international humanitarian law, and has held a number of high-level positions in the United Nations and within the Government of Argentina. His previous country mission was to Kazakhstan in June.