General Assembly

Distr. GENERAL  

18 December 1990

ORIGINAL:
ENGLISH

                                                        A/RES/45/166
                                                        69th plenary meeting
                                                        18 December 1990
 
               Human rights in the administration of justice
 
      The General Assembly,
 
      Bearing in mind the principles embodied in articles 3, 5, 9, 10 and 11 of
 the Universal Declaration of Human Rights  and the relevant provisions of
 the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Optional
 Protocols thereto, in particular article 6 of the Covenant, which
 explicitly states that no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life and
 prohibits the imposition of the death penalty for crimes committed by persons
 below eighteen years of age,
 
      Bearing in mind also the relevant principles embodied in the Convention
 against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
 Punishment and in the International Convention on the Elimination of All
 Forms of Racial Discrimination,
 
      Calling attention to the numerous international standards in the field of
 the administration of justice, such as the Body of Principles for the
 Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, the
 Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of
 Power and the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those
 facing the death penalty, as well as the Basic Principles on the
 Independence of the Judiciary, the Model Agreement on the Transfer of
 Foreign Prisoners and recommendations on the treatment of foreign
 prisoners, the Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials and the
 Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners,
 
      Reaffirming in this context the importance of the principles contained in
 its resolution 41/120 of 4 December 1986 on standard-setting in the field of
 human rights,
 
      Recognizing the important contribution of the Commission on Human Rights
 in the field of human rights in the administration of justice, as reflected in
 its resolutions 1990/81 of 7 March 1990 on human rights in the administration
 of justice, 1990/33 of 2 March 1990 on the independence and impartiality of
 the judiciary, jurors and assessors and the independence of lawyers, 1990/35
 of 2 March 1990 on compensation for victims of gross violations of human
 rights, 1990/37 of 6 March 1990 on the use of force by law enforcement
 officials and 1990/51 of 6 March 1990 on summary or arbitrary executions,
 
      Welcoming resolution 1990/33 of 31 August 1990 of the Sub-Commission on
 Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, by which the
 Sub-Commission adopted a draft declaration on the protection of all persons
 from enforced or involuntary disappearances, and inviting the Commission on
 Human Rights to consider the draft declaration as a matter of high priority at
 its forty-seventh session,
 
      Also welcoming the decision of the Sub-Commission on Prevention of
 Discrimination and Protection of Minorities in its resolution 1990/23, to
 entrust Mr. Louis Joinet with the preparation of a report on strengthening the
 independence of the judiciary and the protection of practising lawyers, and
 encouraging the Sub-Commission, in giving further consideration to the
 question of the independence and impartiality of the judiciary and the
 independence of lawyers, to take into account the basic principles adopted by
 the Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the
 Treatment of Offenders,
 
      Welcoming further the progress achieved by the Sub-Commission on the
 subject of compensation for victims of gross violations of human rights,
 
      Recognizing the significant work accomplished in this area under the
 United Nations crime prevention and criminal justice programme, especially by
 the Eighth Congress, in particular with respect to the formulation and
 application of United Nations standards and norms in the administration of
 justice under item 7 of its agenda,
 
      Underlining the need for further co-ordinated and concerted action in
 promoting respect for human rights in the administration of justice,
 
      Recalling its resolution 44/162 of 15 December 1989,
 
      1.   Reaffirms the importance of the full and effective implementation of
 United Nations norms and standards on human rights in the administration of
 justice;
 
      2.   Once again calls upon all States to pay due attention to those norms
 and standards in developing national or regional strategies for their
 practical implementation and to spare no effort in providing for effective
 legislative and other mechanisms and procedures, as well as for adequate
 financial resources to ensure more effective implementation of these norms and
 standards;
 
      3.   Takes note with appreciation of the recommendations made by the
 Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of
 Offenders with a view to ensuring more effective application of existing
 standards, in particular the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of
 Prisoners, the Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials, the safeguards
 guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty, the
 United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile
 Justice (The Beijing Rules), the Declaration of Basic Principles of
 Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power and the Basic Principles on
 the Independence of the Judiciary;
 
      4.   Welcomes the Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, the Basic
 Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials,
 the Guidelines on the Role of Prosecutors, the Basic Principles for the
 Treatment of Prisoners, the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for
 Non-custodial Measures (The Tokyo Rules), and the United Nations Rules for
 the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty, unanimously adopted
 by the Eighth Congress, and invites Governments to respect them and to take
 them into account within the framework of their national legislation and
 practice;
 
      5.   Welcomes also the Model Treaty on the Transfer of Supervision of
 Offenders Conditionally Sentenced or Conditionally Released and the
 recommendations on the treatment of foreign prisoners adopted unanimously
 by the Seventh United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the
 Treatment of Offenders, and invites Member States to take them into account,
 as well as the Model Agreement on the Transfer of Foreign Prisoners, in
 establishing treaty relations with other Member States or in revising existing
 treaty relations;
 
      6.   Endorses Economic and Social Council resolution 1990/21 of
 24 May 1990 on the implementation of United Nations standards and norms in
 crime prevention and criminal justice;
 
      7.   Requests the Commission on Human Rights, bearing in mind the work of
 the Committee on Crime Prevention and Control, to invite the Sub-Commission on
 Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities:
 
      (a)  To study the implementation of United Nations norms and standards in
 this field;
 
      (b)  To identify problems that may impinge on the effective
 implementation of those standards and norms;
 
      (c)  To recommend viable solutions with action-oriented proposals to the
 Commission;
 
      8.   Requests the Secretary-General:
 
      (a)  To provide the necessary compilatory and analytical documentation to
 the Sub-Commission for those tasks;
 
      (b)  To prepare, on the basis of comments by Member States and relevant
 international organizations and bodies, as well as by non-governmental
 organizations, a draft model text for national legislation in the field of
 human rights in the administration of justice;
 
      (c)  To co-ordinate the activities of the Commission on Human Rights and
 the Sub-Commission, mentioned in paragraph 7 above, with the relevant
 activities of the Committee on Crime Prevention and Control;
 
      (d)  To invite those Member States and international organizations and
 bodies which have not yet done so to comment on the aspects of human rights
 issues in the field of administration of justice they deem relevant to the
 work of the Sub-Commission;
 
      9.   Requests the Commission on Human Rights to invite the Sub-Commission
 to consider the draft model text requested in paragraph 8 (b) above, with a
 view to  the further elaboration of model texts and to propose such texts to
 the Commission for adoption;
 
      10.  Requests the Secretary-General:
 
      (a)  To continue to assist Member States, at their request, in
 implementing existing international human rights standards in the
 administration of justice, in particular under the programme of advisory
 services;
 
      (b)  To continue to provide all necessary support to United Nations
 bodies working on standard-setting in this field;
 
      (c)  To continue to co-ordinate the various technical advisory services
 provided by the Centre for Human Rights and the Centre for Social Development
 and Humanitarian Affairs of the Secretariat with a view to undertaking joint
 programmes and strengthening existing mechanisms for the protection of human
 rights in the administration of justice;
 
      11.  Emphasizes the important role of the regional commissions,
 specialized agencies and the United Nations institutes in the area of human
 rights and crime prevention and criminal justice and other organizations of
 the United Nations system, as well as intergovernmental and non-governmental
 organizations, including national professional associations concerned with
 promoting United Nations standards in this field;
 
      12.  Decides to consider at its forty-sixth session the question of human
 rights in the administration of justice on the basis of a report of the
 Secretary-General on the implementation of the present resolution.