ASIL Sidebar
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| Lawyers and the Rule of Law as an Organizing Principle |
The response of lawyers and the legal profession to the
sacking of the Pakistani Supreme Court Chief Justice for
a “bad
case of judicial independence” and the subsequent imposition
of emergency rule in
Through litigation and representation, lawyers directly intervene to improve the situation of those who seek their counsel. Most of us are familiar with how lawyers protect and defend their clients and are an indispensable means by which individuals gain access the justice system, guard their fundamental rights, obtain remedies when these rights have been violated, and resolve disputes with others and with the state.
There are other interventions that lawyers can make on behalf of society as a whole that have a bearing on the rule of law. According to the United Nations Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, the legal profession and individual lawyers also play an important role in “furthering the ends of justice and the public interest” as “essential agents in the administration of justice.” In other words, lawyers can and should play an active part in the law reform process, strengthening judicial and legal institutions, and seeking to improve public awareness of issues of law and justice.
The so-called “lawyers’ movement” in Pakistan, which began
in March 2007 following the removal of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry
and which continued through the state of emergency into
early 2008, is a prime example of lawyers working for justice
and the rule of law outside the courtroom. Through peaceful
demonstrations and protests that landed many in detention
and also through limited boycotts of courts, lawyers in
Not only did those who participated in the lawyers’ movement
inside
In major cities around the world, lawyers organized in support of the rule of law and spearheaded public demonstrations to show their solidarity with their Pakistani counterparts. Many international and regional bar associations, such as the International Commission of Jurists, the International Bar Association, and the Law Association for Asia and the Pacific (LAWASIA), also called for an end to the detention of hundreds lawyers, judges, and others under the extraordinary powers the government granted itself under the state of emergency. National bar associations and law societies from Australia, India, the United Kingdom, the United States, and elsewhere followed suit in calling for the restoration of the rule of law.
Although emergency rule ended after approximately six weeks
and the former Chief Justice along with other prominent
judges and lawyers have been released from detention, the
rule of law along with judicial independence in
The new Pakistani Prime Minister has pledged to restore the Constitution and work to reinstate many high court judges, and there is some indication of progress in both areas. However, additional measures will no doubt be necessary to overcome other rule of law challenges in the country, particularly those involving the judiciary. These include undue political influence and other external pressures on judges, problems of corruption in the courts, and the judiciary’s lack of material resources—all of which can contribute to lengthy and unfair proceedings that erode the right to fair trial and other fundamental rights and freedoms associated with the rule of law.
Building on this momentum, lawyers in
The rule of law in every country remains a work in progress
and requires vigilance. It also requires a broad based constituency.
When the rule of law in
Whether or not this unity is sustainable remains to be
seen, but the case of
Many of these issues were addressed at an event on Pakistan: The Rule of Law and the Legal Profession in a State of Emergency, organized by ASIL to mark International Human Rights Day on December 10, 2007. This event, which featured presentations by Pakistani Supreme Court Advocate, Dr. Farooq Hassan, and Professor Dinah Shelton of the George Washington University School of Law, examined the situation in Pakistan through the lens of international standards on the discipline and removal of judges, such as those found in the Bangalore Principles, as well as compliance with human rights norms related to pre-trial detention and freedoms of expression, assembly, and association.
Other recent ASIL programs,
activities, and resources for judges and the legal profession
as a whole related to the rule of law, in both the
- A seminar on The Role of International Law in US Courts at a Federal Judicial Center Workshop for US District Court Judges on March 10 in Redondo Beach, California;
- A panel discussion, co sponsored with the International Association of Women Judges and the International Judicial Academy on the development of international tribunals and the emergence of the international judiciary as a distinct professional group and community or practice featuring Judge Patricia Wald and authors of The International Judge: An Introduction to the Men and Women Who Decide the Worlds Cases;
- Co-sponsorship of a DC Bar program on Boumediene v. Bush: Rights of Detainees in the View of the Supreme Court; and
- Publication of ASIL Insights such as Spanish Court Affirms Conviction of Former Argentine Naval Officer for Crimes Against Humanity and brief synopses of recent international and domestic judicial decisions in International Law in Brief (ILIB).
Andrew Solomon, ASIL Director of Programs
International
Judicial Monitor