International Criminal Justice Standards

There are several other global non-treaty standards that relate to criminal justice, including Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary; Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers; Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners; Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials; Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment; Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials; Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power; Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Being Subjected to Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances; Draft International Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance; Guidelines on the Role of Prosecutors; Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners; Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; Principles on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions; Safeguards Guaranteeing Protection of the Rights of Those Facing the Death Penalty; United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency (The Riyadh Guidelines); United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of Their Liberty; United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (The Beijing Rules); and United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for Non-custodial Measures (The Tokyo Rules). Most of these standards have been drafted by the U.N. Committee on Crime Prevention and Control (which has been replaced by the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice); one of the U.N. Congresses on the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders (which have been held every five years since 1955); the U.N. Commission on Human Rights; and the U.N. Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (formerly the Sub-Commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities).

In addition, the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty, entered into force on 11 July 1991, and has been ratified by 44 nations as of 1 November 2000. Furthermore, the Convention (entered into force 22 April 1954) and Protocol (entered into force 4 October 1967, 135 states parties as of 1 November 2000) relating to the Status of Refugees contain a few provisions relating to the rights of refugees in the context of the administration of justice, such as access to the courts, including legal assistance.