FROM LEFT: Horacio Bernardes-Neto, President of International Bar Association; Slaikate Wattanapan, President of the Supreme Court of Thailand; Justice Mushir Alam of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, and Justice Lesetedi Isaac of the High Court of Botswana.
Praising hosting of second high-level meeting of Global Judicial Integrity Network by Qatar, Zerrin Gungor, President of the Council of State of the Republic of Turkey has said that Qatar is ruled by the rule of law.
“The high-level meeting of Global Judicial Integrity Network is very-well planned and my meeting with the President of the Supreme Judiciary Council and the President of the Court of Cassation H E Dr. Hassan bin Lahdan Al Hassan Al Mohannadi was very useful,” she said while talking to The Peninsula on the sidelines of the high-level meeting held in Doha on February 25-26.
“The topics of the meeting are very interesting like the use of social media by judges. I think the meeting will make a change in the mindset of people for judiciary. I also appreciate the efforts of Qatar for hosting such an important meeting. It is a sign that Qatar is ruled by the rule of law and the State respects the rule of law,” Zerrin Gungor said.
The high-level meeting was hosted by the Supreme Judiciary Council under the title ‘Past, Present, Future’ and attended by senior officials, heads of judicial bodies, councils and courts from around 120 countries, and a number of officials from United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The Global Judicial Integrity Network is one of the key results of the efforts of the UNODC Global Programme for the Implementation of the Doha Declaration, which aims to assist member states in implementing vital areas of the Doha Declaration adopted at the 13th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in 2015.
Talking to The Peninsula on the sidelines of the meeting, Justice Mushir Alam of the Supreme Court of Pakistan said that the meeting was a wonderful experience. “You learn by attending such conferences. The integrity of judiciary which is always questioned will find a way forward through this meeting.”
Justice Mushir Alam further said: “We can improve the judicial integrity and perception of judiciary among general public by such meetings. I will take my experience from this high-level meeting back to Pakistan on how perception of a judge should improve and how judges should improve while delivering justice.” Justice Mushir Alam noted that the meeting would have an impact on judicial integrity worldwide as the participants would try to implement the declaration in their countries.
Slaikate Wattanapan, President of the Supreme Court of Thailand, said that Qatar had done a good job to promote judicial integrity. “The idea of this high-level meeting is to strengthen judicial integrity to deliver justice and protect people’s rights. I laud the commitment of Qatar’s judiciary to support judicial integrity in the world.”
He said that important discussions took place on judicial integrity in the meeting in which judges and experts from all over the world shared their knowledge and experiences with their fellow judges. “The topics of the meeting were very useful and the participants will take the outcome of this meeting to their respective countries to streamline the recommendations in their own systems.”
Horacio Bernardes-Neto, President of International Bar Association (IBA), said that Global Judicial Integrity Network was doing good job by conducting training for judges. He said that the meeting was well-represented by the judges and judicial experts from around the world.
Bernardes-Neto, a Brazilian lawyer who heads the IBA, further said that a good number of Qatari lawyers had IBA membership. “The International Bar Association is the largest association of lawyers boasting membership of over 100,000 individuals and 189 bars from 130 countries.”
He said that the association works together with the United Nations. “In the second high-level meeting of Global Judicial Integrity Network, we also discussed bullying and sexual harassment in legal profession,” he said, adding that the issue of sexual harassment in legal profession was on decline due to more positive attitude of younger generations.
“New generations are more respectful for one another and their integrity standards are high. Corruption is found in all societies but is relatively under control in developed countries where strong check and balance mechanisms are in place.”
Judge Ju Yeon Lee from Suwon District Court, South Korea said that she was very glad to participate in the meeting which was attended and addressed by her professional colleagues from all over the world.
“The topics discussed in the second high-level meeting of Global Judicial Integrity Network are very important like the use of social media by judges, gender-related judicial integrity issues, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in judiciaries etc. This is my first visit to Qatar and I am thankful to Qatar for hosting such an important meeting.”
Justice Lesetedi Isaac from High Court of Botswana said that the role of judiciary was crucial to safeguard rights of people and protect other organs of a State from the greed of power and money. “This meeting will be helpful to create a just society by promoting judicial integrity,” he said, praising the organization of the high-level meeting in a flawless manner.
