As defined by its constitution, one the objects of the ECBA is to promote the administration of justice and human rights under the rule of law within the member states of the Council of Europe and among the peoples of the world. Throughout the years the ECBA has been following Criminal Proceedings’ Human Rights’ issues.
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The increasing involvement of the ECBA in advocacy for Human Rights in Criminal Proceedings has led the ECBA to appoint a Human Rights Officer (HRO). The Human Rights Officer (HRO) will be the contact person for Human Rights’ issues, including possible interventions by the ECBA before the ECtHR, and will represent the ECBA in activities such as trial observations.
The first ECBA-HRO was the Advisory Board Member Scott Crosby. Scott was a long time member of the ECBA and had a wide experience in taking cases to the European Court of Human Rights. As Scott Crosby sadly passed away on 25 April 2020, Alexis Anagnostakis has been appointed by the Executive Committee of the ECBA as the actual HR Officer on 21 September 2020.
Given that the demands of human rights law for the work of the ECBA were steadily increasing and could not be adequately met by the Human Rights Officer alone the Executive and Advisory boards of the ECBA decided at the meeting of 21 April 2017 in Prague, Czech Republic, to establish a human rights committee.
The Human Rights Committee (HRC) comprise the undernoted persons:
Nicola Canestrini | Nancy Hollander | |
Federico Cappelletti | Tomasz Kodrzycki | |
Vânia Costa Ramos |
Ondrej Laciak | |
Walter De Agostino | Mihai Mares | |
Marius Dietrichson | Ales Michalevic | |
Paul Garlick | Jonathan Mitchell | |
Thomas Garner | Rebecca Niblock | |
Sergey Golubok | Kevin Roberts | |
Robin Grey | Sylvain Savolainen | |
Omar Hegazi | Alex Tinsley | |
Maria Hessen Jacobsen | ||
The ECBA and their Human Rights Committee have decided to institutionalize the ECBA Human Rights Award, named after our late friend and passionate human rights activist Scott Crosby, to be awarded once a year to distinguished lawyers who have demonstrated outstanding commitment and sacrifice to uphold fundamental values.
The objective of the ECBA is to honour the efforts of lawyers and at the same time raise awareness of the core values of the legal profession.
The ECBA Scott Crosby Human Rights Award 2022, handed by Vincent Asselineau, ECBA Chair, and Alexis Anagnostakis, HR Officer, went to the Ukrainian National Bar Association, represented at the Autumn Conference by Dr. Valentyn Gvozdiy, Vice President of the UNBA and ECBA member. The award honours the efforts of the Ukrainian lawyers for their determination and sacrifice in times of war, to uphold fundamental values and the rule of law in their country during the current impermissible military aggression against Ukraine.
The receivers of the ECBA Human Rights Award 2021 were Judge Igor Tuleya and the Dean of the Warsaw Bar Association, lawyer Mikołaj Pietrzak, both from Poland.
The ECBA co-signed an urgent request to intervene in favour of persecuted Iranian lawyer Reza Khandan, who was recently summoned to prison.
Reza Khandan is also a well-known human rights activist in Iran and husband of the prominent lawyer and human rights defender Nasrin Sotoudeh, who is presently serving her sentence in prison.
Click here for the full text of the letter.
The ECBA co-signed the Statement issued in support of the Turkish lawyer Günay Dağ.
Günay Dağ is a lawyer at the International Bureau of the People's Law Office and a member of the Progressive Lawyers’ Association (ÇHD). On 30 December 2022, he was added to the list called "list of wanted terrorists" published on the official website of the Ministry of Interior. For the past three years, Günay Dağ has been a political refugee.
Although Günay Dağ has never been convicted of a criminal act of terrorism by a court, he is now being labelled as a “wanted terrorist” and member of a terrorist organisation.
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