Ms. Amina Bouayach, Chairperson of the National Human Rights Council (CNDH), participated in the International Seminar on the role of the judiciary in implementing international human rights standard.

Organized on 12 December 2022 by the Presidency of the Public Prosecution to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), this Seminar was an occasion to shed light on the particular and unique relationship between human rights and the judiciary.

Within this context, Ms. Bouayach stated that if human rights are not based on a judicial system that guarantees their respect and prevents their violation, they become mere declarations of intentions that do not affect people's lives. Justice without human rights becomes barely a mechanical application of laws without considering the achievement of the State of Law goals, which remains the ultimate objective of the judiciary in society, she added.

CDNH Chairperson also said that the judiciary is a human rights defender. She noted that the utmost importance of the judiciary in relation to human rights is determined, whether through the relationship of the judiciary with the litigants or through the judge’s work, as justice is in itself a human right, as stipulated in international covenants, particularly the UDHR in its articles 7 and 8. However, at the same time, it is the primary guarantor for protecting several human rights.

Participants in this International Seminar focused on examining several axes, mainly:

- Defining the role of the judiciary in implementing international human rights obligations ;
- The role of the judiciary in developing human rights standards at the national level;
- Implementation of the principle of supremacy of international human rights conventions over national law by the judiciary;
- The role of the supreme courts in unifying the jurisprudence related to human rights.