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INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY ASSOCIATION (ICDAA)
Addressed by Tatjana Markelj,
Representative of the President of the ICDAA, Elise Groulx, Canada
Dear
colleagues, Dear friends,
About
the ICDAA
The
International Criminal Defense Attorney Association was created in 1997 as a
non-profit organization with headquarters in Montreal, Quebec (Canada).
It is also
incorporated in the United States (as International Criminal Defense
Attorney Association-USA) and hold offices there and in the Netherlands
It has
grown considerably since then, gaining recognition from the United Nations
Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) when it received special consultative
status in 2004. Such status allows The ICDAA to participate in formal UN
deliberations in all organizations that fall under ECOSOC’s jurisdiction.
The ICDAA
is also registered as a civil society organization with the Organization of
American States (OAS) and the Quebec government also recognized the work of
ICDAA, by granting it the status of Non-Governmental International
Organization which provides among other things, rights and privileges to
non-Canadian ICDAA employes.
As an international NGO, the ICDAA is interested in assuring the fairness of
the criminal justice system within several spheres: (1) the international
sphere, at the International Criminal Court (ICC), and at the ad hoc
international courts which are the International Criminal Tribunal for
Rwanda (ICTR), the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
(ICTY). It is also concerned with the processes held at the hybrid courts,
for example, the Special Court for Sierra Leone (CS), the Extraordinary
Chambers within the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) and the new Special Court for
Lebanon; (2) the regional sphere, with, for example, the setting-up of legal
infra-structures in the Balkans; and finally, (3) the national sphere, in
particular in the context of the rebuilding the legal system post-conflict.
The
mission of ICDAA
Every
human being, no matter where they live, has a fundamental right to life,
liberty and security of the person with the guarantee that these rights may
not be arbitrarily infringed upon by the representatives of the state in
which they live.
Restrictions imposed by the justice system on individual rights and freedoms
must only be imposed by a system that meets strict standards and controls.
For justice to be truly perceived as equitable, it must be transparent and
public, with decisions being rendered by people who are seen as independent
and impartial. As such, a fair and just legal system represents one of three
fundamental pillars of any democratic society and participates in building
the respect and development of human rights in all societies.
The ICDAA is a professional organization for lawyers in the international
legal arena, aims to contribute to the development of a culture of defence
in the new international criminal justice system and hybrid or national
courts involved in its development.
A true democracy rests on the existence of three branches of power
functioning independently one from the other: an executive power, a
legislative power and a judicial power. A credible legal system must rely on
three independent and fully autonomous pillars, being: the judges, the
prosecution and the defence. Judicial power therefore, has the task of
making certain that its institutional foundations allow the full development
of a system that provides fair and impartial justice which is established,
inter alia, by the defence having the resources required to provide the full
exercise of the guarantees essential to receiving a fair trial.
The focus of ICDAA is geared towards international institutions as well as
the reconstruction of fair justice systems in different countries.
Amongst others, the ICDAA involvement includes the promotion of certain
rights, such as the respect for the presumption of innocence, the right to
remain silent, the protection against arbitrary detention and torture, the
right to a fair trial, the right to be represented by a lawyer and to have
access to the resources necessary to prepare an adequate defence, the
respect of the principle of the equality of arms (between the prosecution
and defence), the right to introduce witnesses for the defence and
cross-examine the accusers, as well as better access to a justice system of
quality for all accused person.
The ICDAA has continued its relentless work in the establishment of a
“defence pillar”, which is an essential element of the international
criminal justice system.
Fairness at trial, which is now an intrinsic part of international common
law, is obtained through the establishment, strict adherence and
implementation of an array of legal rights that are recognized in the law
and ratified by many international treaties.
It should also be emphasized that these hearings must be held in an open
forum allowing the public access to the system, and they should be chaired
by independent and impartial judges, and held in a language that the accused
knows or understands well.
Objectives of the ICDAA
In the pursuit of this ultimate objective, the ICDAA is devoted to the
following mission, consisting of.:
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