Press Release

UN expert to visit Mongolia to assess independence of justice system

03 November 2023

GENEVA / Ulaanbaatar (3 November 2023) – The UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Margaret Satterthwaite, will conduct an official visit to Mongolia from 6 to 15 November 2023.

During her visit, Satterthwaite will assess the measures taken by the Government to ensure the independence and impartiality of the judiciary and prosecutors, as well as the independent exercise of the legal profession.

The Special Rapporteur will address issues related to the structure, organisation and functioning of the judiciary; the administration of justice; the protection of the actors of the justice system; fair trial, including from a gender perspective. She will also examine equal access to justice and legal assistance, seeking to understand how ordinary people in Mongolia experience the judicial system.

The expert will meet Government officials and members of the Parliament, judges, prosecutors and lawyers. She will also meet representatives of civil society, academia, UN agencies, donors and the diplomatic community.

Satterthwaite will hold a press conference on Wednesday 15 November at 12:00 local time at the UN House. Access is strictly limited to journalists. Interested journalists and media must register via: soyolmaa.dolgor@un.org  or 94111220 in advance to gain a permit to the UN House. 

The Special Rapporteur will present her report to the Human Rights Council in June 2024.

ENDS

*The expert: Ms. Margaret Satterthwaite, Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers. She was appointed as United Nations Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers by the Human Rights Council in October 2022. Professor Satterthwaite is an international human rights scholar and practitioner with decades of experience in the field. She is a Professor of Clinical Law at New York University School of Law.

The Experts are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent of any government or organisation and serve in their individual capacity.

UN Human Rights, Country Page - Mongolia

For further information and media requests, please to hrc-sr-independencejl@un.org

For media enquiries regarding other UN independent experts, please contact Maya Derouaz (maya.derouaz@un.org) or Dharisha Indraguptha (dharisha.indraguptha@un.org).

Follow news related to the UN's independent human rights experts on Twitter @UN_SPExperts.

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