The International Bar Association (IBA) has called on the Venezuelan government to take action to improve judicial independence and increase access to justice.
A delegation from the IBA's Human Rights Institute, which visited Venezuela earlier this year, said there had been a general deterioration in the administration of justice and respect for human rights over the last four years, with the state disposing of a number of human rights treaties it had voluntarily ratified.
In its report, published this month, the IBA said interference in the judiciary by the executive in the Latin American republic was a serious impediment to the effective administration of justice and seriously undermined the rule of law.
It said the government had created an environment where the protection of human rights was subverted and access to justice for Venezuelan citizens had been eroded.
Justice Fernando Cruz, of the constitutional division of the Supreme Court in Costa Rica and member of the delegation, said: 'Judges in Venezuela are currently operating under challenging conditions including ongoing incidents of harassment and intimidation, which have created a climate of fear in the legal profession.'
Catherine Baksi
No comments yet