[legal-professionals] UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers visits Brazil

UNITED NATIONS
Press Release
12 October 2004

The Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers of the
United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Leandro Despouy, will visit
Brazil from October 13 to 25 at the invitation of the Government.

The Special Rapporteur intends to study the situation of the Judiciary,
especially in the light of ongoing reforms. He will analyze the impact of
such reforms on the independence of judges and lawyers and on equality of
access to and treatment by the justice system. He will further assess
those measures taken with a view to promoting awareness and respect of
international human rights norms within the court system.

The Special Rapporteur will visit the cities of Brasília, São Paulo, Porto
Alegre, Recife and Belém. He has requested to meet with various Ministers
and other senior Government officials, judges and prosecutors at the
Federal and State levels, as well as with judicial and bar associations,
international organizations, national institutions and non-governmental
organizations.

The Special Rapporteur will submit his findings and recommendations to the
sixty- first session of the Commission on Human Rights next spring.

Mr. Despouy is president of the Auditoría General of Argentina, which
audits the country's public services. He was appointed Special Rapporteur
in September 2003. He has extensive experience in human rights and
international humanitarian law, and has held a number of high-level
positions in the United Nations and within the Government of Argentina.
His previous country mission was to Kazakhstan in June.