"Sad, but true", major challenges continue to hamper the reform process of the internal justice system of the United Nations

UNJustice message

At a time when the United Nations is playing a decisive role in coping with world problems which affect the lives of millions of people, fair play - a combination of observance of the rules, respect for the defenceless, and prevention of adverse behaviour - is the condition under which human cooperation becomes both possible and necessary.

With a view to this, to help these essential features cross the arbitrary and artificial barriers to realize the UN's potential as a positive force in the world, UNJustice devotes itself to no other task with more dedication than to the very task it got its name from: encouraging fair play in the United Nations system of administration of justice.

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"Sad, but true", major challenges continue to hamper the reform process of the internal justice system of the United Nations

14 December 2011

The winter holiday season is a season of waiting and hope for many people we work with.

Imagine the bitterness of being left in the dark by a justice system like the internal justice system of the United Nations which does not recognize many basic human rights or often a person before the law at all. 'Sad, but true': the UN justice system reform process still faces several challenges.

Even this holiday season, as part of its campaign for an effectively fair and equitable administration of justice in the United Nations system of organizations, UNJustice has sent 100 numbered postcards to highlight some of the most pressing current human rights issues in the administration of justice at the United Nations.

Joint efforts are needed to guarantee the independence of the judiciary; the executive and judicial powers should not be seen to be one and the same; the adoption of new legislation should not be used as a means to limit the right to access justice; legal aid should be effectively ensured to all those who need it; non-staff personnel should have recourse to the same judicial redress mechanisms as staff personnel; law enforcement officials, lawyers and managers should be made accountable for their actions; and the internal tribunals should be adequately staffed and resourced so that they are able to function properly and uphold the highest standards of efficiency and transparency.

Nowadays, an accessible, independent and impartial justice system is broadly recognized as a crucial element of successful governance. There are no reasons to doubt that the same principles can do nothing but good for the United Nations.

List of the 100 recipients of the 2011 holiday season UNJustice postcard

-in alphabetical order by surname-

1 Nassir Abdulaziz	Al-Nasser	UN General Assembly President
2 Valerie	Amos	UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator
3 Louise	Arbour	President & CEO of the International Crisis Group
4 Lance	Armstrong	Athlete and Humanitarian
5 Catherine	Ashton	EU High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
6 Yasmeen	Assan	Equality Now Global Director
7 Michelle	Bachelet	UN Women Executive Director
8 Ki-moon	Ban	UN Secretary-General
9 Alicia	Bárcena	UN-ECLAC Executive Secretary
10 Johnston	Barkat	UN Ombudsman
11 José Manuel	Barroso	EU Commission President
12 Gérard	Biraud	JIU Chair
13 Irina	Bokova	UNESCO Director-General
14 Nicolas	Bratza	European Court of Human Rights President
15 Arthur S.	Brisbane	NYT Public Editor
16 Jerzy	Buzek	EU Parliament President
17 Margaret	Chan	WHO Director-General
18 Helen	Clark	UNDP Administrator
19 Hillary	Clinton	US Secretary of State
20 William J.	Clinton	President William J. Clinton Foundation
21 Bernard	Cochemé	UN Joint Staff Pension Fund CEO
22 Sara	Cooke	Director of United Nations Research Institute on Social Development
23 Ferruccio	de Bortoli	Corriere della Sera Director
24 Yves	de Kermabon	EULEX Head of Mission
25 Bertrand	Delanoë	Mayor of Paris
26 Paul	Demaret	College of Europe Rector
27 Nicolas	Demorand	Libération Editor
28 Richard	Descoings	Sciences Po Director
29 Jacques	Diouf	FAO Director-General
30 Louis	Dreyfus	Le Monde Director
31 Joan Elise	Dubinsky	UN Ethics Office Director
32 David	Ellwood	Harvard Kennedy School of Government Dean
33 Yassine	Fall	UN-INSTRAW Director
34 Yury	Fedotov	UNODC Executive Director
35 Edward P.	Flaherty	Schwab Flaherty Hassberger Crausaz & Associés Int. Lawyers
36 Klaus-Dieter	Frankenberger	Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Foreign Affairs Editor
37 Patrick	Gérard	Recteur de l’Académie de Paris
38 Brian	Gorlik	Chief of UN the Office of Staff Legal Assistance
39 Vincent	Gray	Mayor of District of Columbia
40 António	Guterres	UN High Commissioner for Refugees
41 James	Harding	The Times Editor
42 Michael	Häupl	Mayor of Vienna
43 Noeleen	Heyzer	UN-ESCAP Executive Secretary
44 Michel	Jarraud	WMO Secretary-General
45 Boris	Johnson	Mayor of London
46 Jean-François	Juillard	Reporters sans frontières Secrétaire Général
47 Alain	Juppé	French Minister of Foreign and European Affairs
48 Angela	Kane	UN Under Secretary-General for Management
49 Ousmane	Kane	Chief of UN Management Evaluation Unit
50 Collen	Kelapile	ACABQ Chair
51 Gabriela Carina	Knaul de Albuquerque e Silva	UN-OHCHR Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers
52 Harold	Koh	Legal Adviser of the Department of State
53 Ján	Kubiš	UN-ECE Executive Secretary
54 Hervé	Ladsous	UN-DPKO Under Secretary-General
55 Pascal	Lamy	WTO Director General
56 Debbie	Landey	UN Development Operations Coordination Office Director
57 Matthew	Lee	Inner City Press Editor
58 Bernard-Henri	Lévi	Éditions Grasset & Fasquelle
59 Barbara	Lochbihler	EU Parliament Chair Subcommittee on Human Rights
60 Carlos	Lopes	UNITAR Executive Director
61 Colum	Lynch	UN correspondent for the Washington Post
62 Jan	Mattsson	UNOPS Executive Director
63 Roger A.	Meece	MONUSCO Head of Mission
64 John	Micklethwait	The Economist Editor in Chief
65 Asha-Rose	Migiro	UN Deputy Secretary-General
66 Efthimios	Mitropoulos	IMO Secretary-General
67 Ernst	Mohr	University of St. Gallen President
68 Étienne	Mougeotte	Le Figaro Directeur des rédactions
69 Pedro	Nikken	International Commission of Jurists President
70 Kanayo F.	Nwanze	IFAD President
71 Patricia	O’Brien	UN Legal Counsel
72 Barak	Obama	US President
73 Babatunde	Osotimehin	UNFPA Executive Director
74 Konrad	Osterwalder	UN University Rector
75 Hisashi	Owada	President of the International Court of Justice
76 Supachai	Panitchpakdi	UNCTAD Secretary-General
77 Flavia	Pensieri	UNV Executive Coordinator
78 Navanethem	Pillay	UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
79 Pedro	Ramirez	El Mundo Director
80 Judith	Rees	LSE Director
81 David	Remnick	The New Yorker Editor in Chief
82 Kingston	Rhodes	ICSC Chair
83 John	Roberts	Chief Justice of the United States
84 Geoffrey	Robertson	Doughty Street Chambers Founder
85 Joel	Rosenthal	Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs President
86 Kenneth	Roth	Human Rights Watch Executive Director
87 Alan	Rusbridger	The Guardian Editor
88 Emile	Rwanasirabo	National University of Rwanda Rector
89 Jeffrey D.	Sachs	The Earth Institute Director
90 Nicolaas J.	Schrijver	International Law Association President
91 John	Sexton	NYU President
92 Josette	Sheeran	WFP Executive Director
93 Salil	Shetty	Amnesty International Secretary-General
94 Michel	Sidibé	UNAIDS Executive Director
95 Juan	Somavia	ILO Director General
96 Barbara	Tavora-Jainchill	UN Staff Union President
97 Joseph M.	Torsella	US Representative to the UN for UN Management and Reform
98 Jozias	van Aartsen	Mayor of the Hague
99 Pierre	Veya	Le Temps Director
100 Lamberto	Zannier	OSCE Secretary-General

Stop the UNJustice clock!

Today, the United Nations is celebrating without the provision of a system of administration of justice that promotes compliance with human rights norms. To make the United Nations' work a true manifestation of culture and humanness, the United Nations needs a fundamentally new system of justice.

It is only fair to stop the UNJustice clock now.

Write to your Permanent Representative to the United Nations

Help us to assess access to the United Nations internal justice system

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34 Yury