Secretary-General Appoints Independent Experts to Assess Administration of Justice System at United Nations
The Secretary-General has appointed a Panel of external experts to conduct an interim independent assessment of the system of administration of justice at the United Nations. The establishment of the Panel responds to a request by the General Assembly in its resolution 69/203 of 18 December 2014.
Pursuant to resolution 69/203, the Panel shall examine the system of administration of justice in all its aspects, with particular attention to the formal system and its relation with the informal system, including an analysis of whether the aims and objectives of the system are being achieved in an efficient and cost-effective manner. In establishing the current system, the Assembly envisaged an independent, transparent, professionalized, adequately resourced and decentralized system of administration of justice consistent with the relevant rules of international law and the principles of the rule of law and due process to ensure respect for the rights and obligations of staff members and the accountability of managers and staff members alike. The Assembly has also encouraged the resolution of workplace disputes through informal means whenever possible.
The General Assembly specified that the Panel be selected to ensure the independent nature of the assessment, taking into account geographical representation and gender balance, with a broad mix of expertise, comprising members with knowledge of internal United Nations processes and United Nations intergovernmental legislation, as well as judicial experience, knowledge of internal labour dispute mechanisms and knowledge of different legal and justice systems, including expertise in employment and/or human rights law. The selection process sought the input of United Nations staff associations.
The Panel is expected to start work in April 2015. The General Assembly will consider the Panel’s report at the main part of its seventy-first session. The Panel’s composition, in alphabetical order, is as follows:
Jorge Bofill (Chile) — Experienced dispute resolution lawyer in the areas of civil litigation, international arbitration and mediation and corporate investigations. He has advised the Chilean Senate on important legislative reforms, including the Criminal Procedure Reform, and coordinated the commission entrusted with the drafting of a proposal for a new Criminal Code. He is a Professor of Criminal Procedure and Trial Techniques at the Universidad de Chile and a Professor at the Judiciary Academy, Chile, and during the period from 1988 to 1997 was a professor of criminal law at three other universities in Chile. Mr. Bofill is a Board Member of the Chilean Bar Association and participated in the drafting of a new Code of Ethics for the Association. He presently serves as a member of the Ethics Tribunal of the Chilean Bar Association, the Criminal Science Institute and the Judiciary Studies Institute.
Chris de Cooker (Netherlands) — Currently serving as the President of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Administrative Tribunal, Mr. de Cooker has extensive experience in advising on or reviewing internal justice systems, including those of the World Bank, World Health Organization, World Intellectual Property Organization, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and International Monetary Fund. He was Senior Lecturer in international law, the law of international organizations and international administration at the University of Leiden and Lecturer in international organizations at the Staff College of the Dutch Royal Air Force. Mr. de Cooker has written extensively in the fields of internal dispute resolution in international organizations, international administrative law and international administration including law and management practices in international organizations.
Bob Hepple (United Kingdom) — Academic, practising lawyer and judge, mediator and arbitrator mainly in employment, discrimination and human rights matters. He has served on bodies reviewing labour dispute mechanisms and has written extensively on this subject from a comparative viewpoint. Mr Hepple served as a Member of the United Nations Administrative Tribunal from 2007 to 2009. Other judicial and related appointments have included Chairman of Industrial Tribunals, Member of the Commission for Racial Equality, Chairman of the Justice Committee on Industrial Tribunals, Member of Judicial Studies Board, Member of Lord Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Legal Education and Conduct, Chairman of the Court of the Septemviri, University of Cambridge Chairman, Visitatorial Board and Deputy to the High Steward at the University of Oxford. Mr. Hepple is Emeritus Master of Clare College and Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Cambridge, and is the recipient of numerous honours and awards.
Hina Jilani (Pakistan) — A leading human rights practitioner in Pakistan, Ms. Jilani is a member of the Elders, a group of independent leaders working for human rights, peace and democracy. She continues to practice law in the first law firm of women lawyers in Pakistan, which she founded in 1980. She has served the United Nations in various capacities, including as Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General on Human Rights Defenders and as a member of the Global Civil Society Advisory Group to UN Women. Ms. Jilani has lectured in international human rights law at the University of Oxford and was a Visiting Scholar for international human rights law at Columbia University. She has written studies and reports in the field of human rights law and her work has been recognized by a number of awards. She was or continues to be a member in various national, regional and international organizations.
Navanethem Pillay (South Africa) — An expert in human rights law, Ms. Pillay served as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014. Prior thereto, she held notable judicial positions, including as Judge of the International Criminal Court, Judge and President of the United Nations Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and Acting Judge of the High Court of South Africa. Ms. Pillay also has experience as a practicing lawyer, defending opponents of apartheid, among other clients. She has been affiliated to many organizations such as Advisory Board of the Journal of International Criminal Justice and Advisory Committee of the project Process and Legitimacy in the Nomination, Election and Appointment of International Judges, and has been awarded numerous honours for her work.
Leonid Skotnikov (Russian Federation) has recently completed a nine-year term as Judge of the International Court of Justice. His prior diverse legal experience includes work in human rights, leading the delegation of the Russian Federation in four sessions of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, and representing his country as Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office in Geneva and earlier as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Netherlands, acting as member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration Steering Committee and as member of the Administrative Council of the Permanent Court of Arbitration. Mr. Skotnikov is a past Member of the Curatorium of The Hague Academy of International Law and has authored a number of publications in international law.