Human Rights in the Administration of Justice, Including Juvenile Justice

A/HRC/RES/36/16No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 3Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, published in 2017.

What other versions does this mandate have?

4 versions · 2013–2019

This is an older version — the most recent is A/HRC/RES/42/11

2019A/HRC/RES/42/11Human rights in the administration of justice, including juvenile justiceLatestCompare with previous version
2017A/HRC/RES/36/16Human rights in the administration of justice, including juvenile justiceCompare with previous version
2015A/HRC/RES/30/7Human rights in the administration of justice, including juvenile justiceCompare with previous version
2013A/HRC/RES/24/12Human rights in the administration of justice, including juvenile justice

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What subjects does this mandate have?

10 topics

Administration of Justice Anti-Discrimination Measures Capacity Building Criminal Justice Death in Custody Human Rights Juvenile Justice Prisoner Treatment Report Preparation Rights of the Child

What does this mandate say?

34 operative paragraphs

Notes with appreciation the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on non-discrimination and the protection of persons with increased vulnerability in the administration of justice, in particular in situations of deprivation of liberty and with regard to the causes and effects of overincarceration and overcrowding;

Reaffirms the importance of the full and effective implementation of all United Nations standards on human rights in the administration of justice;

Calls upon States to spare no effort in providing for effective legislative, judicial, social, educative and other relevant mechanisms and procedures, as well as adequate resources, to ensure the full implementation of those standards, and invites them to assess their national legislation and practice in accordance with those standards;

Invites States to take into consideration the issue of human rights in the administration of justice in the universal periodic review procedure;

Invites Governments to include in their efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and their national development plans the administration of justice as an integral part of the development process, and to allocate adequate resources for fair and effective justice systems, including the provision of legal aid services with a view to promoting and protecting human rights, and to address gender inequality, and invites the international community to provide an increased level of both technical and financial assistance to States and to respond favourably to their requests for capacity-building, and enhancement and strengthening of institutions concerned with the administration of justice;

Stresses the special need for continuous national capacity-building in the field of the administration of justice, including through reform of the judiciary, the police, prosecution and the penal system, as well as juvenile justice reform, and promoting women’s effective participation and equal opportunities in the judiciary and a composition of law enforcement bodies that reflects the diversity of the population;

Reaffirms that no one should be unlawfully or arbitrarily deprived of his or her liberty, and notes the principles of necessity and proportionality in this regard;

Calls upon States to apply individual criminal responsibility and to refrain from detaining persons solely on the basis of their family ties with an alleged offender;

Also calls upon States to ensure that anyone who is deprived of his or her liberty has prompt access to a competent court with the effective power to determine the lawfulness of the detention, and to order release if the detention or imprisonment is determined not to be lawful by that court, as well as prompt access to legal counsel, in accordance with their international obligations and commitments;

Urges all States to consider establishing, maintaining or enhancing independent mechanisms with the mandate to monitor all places of detention, including by making unannounced visits, and to hold private interviews without witnesses with all persons deprived of their liberty;

Calls upon States to ensure a proper file and data management system on prisoners that allows the tracking of the number of persons deprived of their liberty, their detention period, offences or grounds for detention, and developments regarding the prison population, and encourages States to collect other up-to-date, comprehensive and disaggregated data that allow for the identification and prevention of discrimination in the administration of justice and overincarceration;

Recalls the absolute prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in international law, and calls upon States to address and prevent detention conditions of persons deprived of their liberty that amount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;

Calls upon States to investigate promptly, effectively and impartially all alleged human rights violations and abuses suffered by persons deprived of their liberty, in particular cases involving death, torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, to provide effective remedies to the victims, and to ensure that detention administrations cooperate fully with the investigating authority and preserve all evidence;

Encourages States to address overcrowding in detention facilities by taking effective measures, including by enhancing the availability and use of alternatives to pretrial detention and custodial sentences, access to legal aid, mechanisms for crime prevention, early release and rehabilitation programmes and the efficiency and capacity of the criminal justice system and its facilities, and to make use in this regard of, inter alia, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Handbook on strategies to reduce overcrowding in prisons;

Urges States to take all necessary measures to prevent and eliminate discrimination in law and in practice against persons belonging to vulnerable groups in the administration of justice that may also result in their overincarceration and overrepresentation throughout the criminal justice process;

Also urges States to pay special attention to the conditions of detention or imprisonment of persons with increased vulnerability and their particular needs;

Calls upon States to review penal policies that can contribute to overincarceration and overcrowding, in particular regarding so-called “zero-tolerance policies”, such as the application of mandatory pretrial detention and mandatory minimum sentences, especially for minor and/or non-violent crimes;

Urges States to endeavour to reduce pretrial detention, which should be a measure of last resort and for as short a period as possible, by, inter alia, adopting legislative and administrative measures and policies on its preconditions, limitations, duration and alternatives, and by taking measures aimed at implementing existing legislation, as well as by ensuring access to justice and legal advice and assistance;

Underscores the particular importance of providing appropriate training in the administration of justice, including for prosecutorial and judicial authorities, with a view to raising awareness of and eliminating prejudice and discrimination, ensuring proportionate sentencing and enhancing the implementation of non-custodial measures at the pretrial and post-conviction stages;

Recognizes that every child and juvenile alleged as, accused of or recognized as having infringed the law, particularly those who are deprived of their liberty, as well as child victims and witnesses of crimes, should be treated in a manner consistent with his or her rights, dignity and needs, in accordance with international law, bearing in mind relevant international standards on human rights in the administration of justice and taking into account the age, gender, social circumstances and development needs of such children, and calls upon States parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child to abide strictly by its principles and provisions;

Urges States to consider applying the United Nations Model Strategies and Practical Measures on the Elimination of Violence against Children in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, as appropriate, in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of laws, policies, programmes, budgets and mechanisms aimed at eliminating violence against children in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice, and encourages them to support and to benefit from the programme proposed by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the United Nations Children’s Fund in this regard;

Encourages States that have not yet integrated children’s issues into their overall rule of law efforts to do so, and to develop and implement a comprehensive juvenile justice policy to prevent and address juvenile delinquency as well as with a view to promoting, inter alia, the use of alternative measures, such as diversion and restorative justice, and ensuring compliance with the principle that the deprivation of a child’s liberty should only be used as a measure of last resort, for the shortest appropriate period of time, and that such decisions must be subject to periodic review of their continuing necessity and appropriateness, and to avoid, wherever possible, the use of pretrial detention for children;

Urges States to systematically integrate children’s access to justice into justice sector reforms, rule of law initiatives and national planning processes, such as national development plans and justice sector-wide approaches, and to support it through the national budget;

Encourages States not to set the minimum age of criminal responsibility at too low an age, bearing in mind the emotional, mental and intellectual maturity of the child, and in this respect refers to the recommendation of the Committee on the Rights of the Child to increase their lower minimum age of criminal responsibility, without exception, to 12 years, as the absolute minimum age, and to continue to raise the lower limit to a higher age;

Urges States to ensure that, under their legislation and practice, neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment are imposed for offences committed by persons under 18 years of age;

Calls upon States to consider establishing or strengthening existing independent and child-friendly national monitoring and complaints mechanisms so as to contribute to safeguarding the rights of children deprived of their liberty;

Welcomes the work on the in-depth global study on children deprived of liberty, and encourages Member States, United Nations agencies, funds, programmes and offices, and other relevant stakeholders, to support the elaboration of the study;

Invites States to provide for human rights training on the administration of justice and juvenile justice, including anti-racist, anti-discrimination, multicultural, gender-sensitive and child rights training, for all judges, lawyers, prosecutors, social workers, immigration, correction and police officers, and other professionals working in the administration of justice;

Also invites States, upon their request, to benefit from the technical advice and assistance provided by the relevant United Nations agencies and programmes in order to strengthen their national capacities and infrastructures in the field of the administration of justice, including in addressing overcrowding, overincarceration and violence against children in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice;

Calls upon relevant special procedures of the Human Rights Council to pay special attention to questions relating to the effective protection of human rights in the administration of justice, including juvenile justice and the human rights of persons deprived of their liberty, and the causes and effects of overincarceration and overcrowding, and to provide, wherever appropriate, specific recommendations in this regard, including proposals for advisory services and technical assistance measures;

Invites States, when reviewing progress made in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, to consider the causes and effects of overincarceration and overcrowding, including with regard to non-discrimination and persons with increased vulnerability in the administration of justice;

Calls upon the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to strengthen advisory services and technical assistance relating to national capacity-building in the field of the administration of justice, in particular juvenile justice;

Requests the High Commissioner to submit to the Human Rights Council, at its forty-second session, a report on human rights in the administration of justice, in particular on violence, death and serious injury in situations of deprivation of liberty, drawing on the experience of United Nations and regional human rights mechanisms and seeking the views of States, including on their policies and best practices, civil society, and other relevant stakeholders;

Decides to continue its consideration of this issue under the same agenda item, in accordance with its annual programme of work.

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