How we work
International standard setting
Our work at the international level aims to improve the procedures and actions of regional, global and United Nations human rights mechanisms to promote and protect human rights.
Our teams engage with the regional and international mechanisms that uphold a global rights framework, supporting and strengthening them to protect and promote human rights for all.
We work with these mechanisms to clarify and develop international human rights law; we engage negotiations of resolutions and other legal and policy instruments being developed by the UN mechanisms; and we check that they are not selective in their work.
We make legal submissions to the UN Human Rights Council and the treaty bodies on how well States are implementing their obligations under international human rights law. Our submissions cover themes being considered by the Council and the treaty bodies, such as commenting on draft ‘General Comments’, or making legal interventions on the development or application of specific areas of law.
To support our work in this area, we convene international conferences and produce briefings and publications on developing areas of international law, including economic social and cultural rights; military tribunals under international law; protecting human rights in countering terrorism; corporations and human rights; digital rights; and the use of artificial intelligence.
- International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance;
- The Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture;
- The Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;
- The third Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child;
- The UN Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to Remedy and Reparation for Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law;
- The updated set of Principles for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights through Actions to Combat Impunity.
Research
We monitor the human rights situation globally, working with legal advisors and partners around the world to document incidents and carry out in-depth research on potential human rights violations, including high level fact finding missions.
All of our work is published and shared widely, and where relevant, includes practical recommendations for the international community and local governance and judicial actors.
Advocacy
We work to make the international human rights system more accountable and responsive to violations experienced by individuals. We do this through legal advocacy before national and regional human rights systems, the United Nations treaty bodies, and the Human Rights Council. We engage with the UN Committee Against Torture and the International Criminal Court, as well as with Independent Fact-Finding missions, international Commissions of Inquiry, and the UN Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts. We provide them with information, documentation and authoritative legal analysis of domestic legal frameworks.
We also support domestic civil society actors, human rights defenders , victims of violations, and lawyers to engage with and use these international mechanisms.
The ICJ supports informal networks of lawyers to monitor and document cases of detention and provide detainees with legal assistance. We have documented thousands of cases and supported hundreds of detainees over the decades.
Africa
We work with the African Commission on Human And Peoples’ Rights, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the East African Court of Justice, and the ECOWAS Court of Justice.
Latin America
We work with the Inter-American System of Human Rights.
Europe and Central Asia
We work before the European Court of Human Rights, the European Committee on Social Rights and other regional mechanisms. We have observer status at the Council of Europe Steering Committee on Human Rights to influence standard setting and advocate for European Union accession to the European Convention on Human Rights, and press for stronger EU mechanisms on the rule of law.
Middle East and North Africa
In the Middle East and North Africa, we support litigation, including as a third-party intervener, before regional and international mechanisms, and engage with the Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, the UN Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts on Yemen, and the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism on Syria, providing them with information, documentation and authoritative legal analysis of domestic legal frameworks, and assisting domestic civil society actors and human rights defenders in engaging with them.
Strategic litigation
We use strategic litigation to advance legal standards (or highlight their absence) around the world. All of our litigation work is designed to advance the clarification, protection and fulfilment of rights and we focus on how we can use this to change laws and practice, to secure remedies or relief, and to raise public awareness on injustice.
Trial observations
The ICJ is routinely called upon to observe and provide opinions on the conduct of judicial proceedings; at times, the mere presence of our observers can have a salutary effect, while in other cases our documentation of compliance with due process standards serves as an important part of the historical record.
Capacity
strengthening
We work with partners and networks to strengthen the capacity of those most invested in rights protections at a local level.
Our legal advisors are experienced trainers and facilitators, who provide theoretical and practical training on domestic, regional and international legal frameworks and their application. We also provide capacity strengthening to all of those involved in promoting human rights and the rule of law, from legal professionals to government officials, human rights activists, local civil society organisations, and the private sector.
We make our training tools freely available through our website and on request. All training is interactive and based on adult learning techniques and open education, and supported by ongoing mentoring, expert support, and peer exchanges.
Legal professionals
We train judges and lawyers to enable them to operate independently and impartially, utilising international frameworks to strengthen their decision making. We provide training in fragile, conflict and post-conflict investigation and prosecution of international crimes according to international standards. We organise judicial dialogues, bringing together members of the judiciary from across countries, regions or globally to enable peer discussions and support.
Activists and human rights defenders
We provide human rights defenders and activists the knowledge, skills and tools to safely and effectively monitor and document human rights violations and advocate for the promotion, protection and fulfilment of a range of rights. We also enable legal and advocacy support to individuals and groups whose rights have been threatened or violated, and help them bring their cases to courts. This includes training police investigators and prosecutors on the investigations into serious human rights abuses. We facilitate dialogues with and between civil society actors, lawyers and judges so that they can use international law more systematically in the adjudication of claims at the domestic and regional levels.
Tools
We develop tools that support a range of stakeholders in their human rights duties. We use these in the training and dialogues we run and make them publicly accessible to ensure that the greatest number of people can benefit from them.
Tools & guides
These include compendia of good practices, Frequently Asked Questions and discussion guides developed following roundtables and workshops. Our tool kits are published in a range of languages and widely disseminated amongst practitioners and civil society organisations, experts and institutions. The compendia serve as ongoing resources.
Practitioners guides
Our guides provide legal practitioners and policy-makers with detailed and practical references on international standards. The guides provide an analysis of the law and concrete examples drawn from international practice relevant to the thematic. The guides also include relevant global and regional standards on the topic to facilitate easy reference.
Podcasts & videos
To make key aspects of our work more accessible, we have developed a series of podcasts, covering a range of the issues we are working on, from enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in Latin America, to the current challenges to the Rule of Law, particularly to the independence of the judiciary in Europe, and cases of particular individuals who have been denied access to justice.