“Ensuring rule of law-based criminal-justice responses to terrorism is a central component of the global counter-terrorism effort, including in the Security Council,” stated His Excellency, Ambassador Tarek Ladeb, Chair of the Counter-Terrorism Committee, at the virtual open briefing on “The role of judges, prosecutors and defence counsel in bringing terrorists to justice, including the effective use of battlefield or military-collected evidence” on 12 November 2020.
The virtual open briefing brought together leading counter-terrorism criminal justice practitioners including representatives from the International Association of Prosecutors (IAP), the International Bar Association (IBA), and the International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law (IIJ) to present the practical perspectives and challenges faced by judges, prosecutors and defence counsel, relating to their roles in bringing terrorists to justice, in particular in relation to the use of information or evidence obtained in conflict zones.
The first session of the virtual open briefing provided an overview of the current landscape. Ambassador Jean-Paul Laborde, Roving Ambassador of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean and Director of the Centre of Excellence on Counter-Terrorism Measures, stressed the necessity of convergence between justice and multilateral diplomacy and suggested to bring high-level prosecutors to the Security Council for vital exchanges. Some Member States are currently handling thousands of cases through their respective criminal justice systems with extremely limited resources. A large number of States are faced with the challenge of dealing with foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs), including bringing to justice individuals suspected of having committed crimes thousands of kilometres away in foreign lands. The Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate’s (CTED) assessments and ongoing research show that many Member States still lack the required legal frameworks, procedures, or capacities to ensure that terrorists are effectively and appropriately brought to justice in line with relevant international law obligations. As for the challenges to collect information that may later be used as admissible evidence in relation to cases of FTFs, in December 2019, CTED issued the Guidelines to facilitate the use and admissibility as evidence in national criminal courts of information collected, handled, preserved and shared by the military to prosecute terrorist offences (“Military Evidence Guidelines”). “Bringing terrorists to justice while respecting the rule of law and international human rights norms and standards remains a key pillar of the UN’s approach to preventing and countering terrorism,” said Assistant Secretary-General Michèle Coninsx, Executive Director of CTED. “Bringing terrorists to justice is also a priority concern in the context of comprehensive and tailored prosecution, rehabilitation and reintegration strategies that are required by Council resolution 2396 (2017),” said ASG Coninsx.
The second session of the virtual open briefing featured insights and recommendations from practitioners about challenges and good practices. Gary Balch, General Counsel of the International Association of Prosecutors, suggested that gaps can be bridged by facilitating relationships between international counterparts, raising technical expertise of criminal justice actors, standardising judicial cooperation processes and creating a culture of international cooperation amongst criminal justice actors. Kate Orlovsky, Director of the Hague Office of the International Bar Association, recommended prioritizing fair trials when making jurisdictional decisions, and continuing investment to identify, preserve and transmit evidence that meets high standards of admissibility and providing the defence access to all relevant evidence. She also recommended increased transparency, reporting on, and monitoring of domestic trials, including analysis of fair trial benchmarks and a gender analysis. Thomas Wuchte, Executive Secretary of the International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law, spoke about challenges and recommendations related to the gathering of, so called ‘battlefield evidence’, some considerations in relation to juvenile justice in the counter-terrorism context, and IIJ’s ongoing work with UNODC to develop a set of guidelines on remote access to justice while respecting the rights of accused persons, witnesses, and victims. In view of the growing number and complexity of the challenges involved, participants stressed it is essential to continue to strengthen cooperation in this area.
The concept note of the virtual open briefing is available here.
The agenda of the virtual open briefing is available here.
You can watch the virtual open briefing .