SEPARATION OF POWERS: 20 YEARS OF THE COMMONWEALTH LATIMER HOUSE PRINCIPLES
THE COMMONWEALTH LATIMER HOUSE PROCESS: 20 YEARS OF RECOGNITION One of the key architects of the Commonwealth Latimer House Principles examines their progress and how they are used to promote Judicial Independence. Background In 1991, the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) adopted the Harare Commonwealth Declaration, building on the ‘Declaration on the Commonwealth Principles’ endorsed by Heads in Singapore in 1971. These Principles included the following pledge to work “with renewed vigour” on the following: • the protection and promotion of the fundamental political values of the Commonwealth; • democracy, democratic processes and institutions which reflect national circumstances, the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary, just and honest government; • fundamental human rights, including equal rights and opportunities for all citizens regardless of race, colour, creed or political belief; • equality for women, so that they may exercise their full and equal rights. In 1996, Commonwealth Law Ministers recognised the importance of the role played by an independent and impartial judiciary in a ‘healthy democracy’ as did Heads of Government from 18 Commonwealth African countries who met to evaluate the state of democracy in Africa in 1997. It was against this background that in 1998, a group of eminent members of four Commonwealth Associations (the Commonwealth Lawyers Association (CLA), Commonwealth Legal Education Association (CLEA), the Commonwealth Magistrates’ and Judges’ Association (CMJA) and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA)), 'the four sponsoring organisations,' met at Latimer House in Buckinghamshire, UK to promote a dialogue and draft guidelines on good governance and best practice in the enhancement of good relations between the Executive, Parliament and the Judiciary which resulted in the drafting of the Commonwealth (Latimer House) Guidelines on Parliamentary Supremacy and Judicial Independence (“The Guidelines”) in 1998. The Guidelines were the result of a consensus at the Colloquium, but received wide acceptance from all stakeholders including
governments, judicial officers, lawyers, Parliamentarians and nongovernmental organisations from around the Commonwealth. This was the start of what we describe as the Latimer House process, which points to the determination of the four sponsoring organisations to have a roadmap for good governance in the Commonwealth. It was recognised that Commonwealth governments’ endorsement was essential to the effective implementation of the Guidelines although the four sponsorship organisations also needed to act independently and hold the Executive to account for any breaches of the Guidelines. The Commonwealth (Latimer House) Principles on the Accountability and Relationship between the Three Branches of Government (“The Principles”), were distilled from the Guidelines in 2003 by a Working Group composed of Law Ministers and representatives of the four above organisations, and were endorsed by Commonwealth Law Ministers and subsequently by Commonwealth Heads of Government in Abuja, Nigeria in 2003. Article 1 provides that each institution is “the guarantor in their respective spheres of the rule of law, the promotion and protection of human rights and the entrenchment of good governance based on the highest standards of honesty, probity and accountability”.1 In more direct terms, the Guidelines emphasised that “Each institution must exercise responsibility and restraint in the exercise of power within its own constitutional sphere so as not to encroach on the legitimate discharge of constitutional functions by the other institutions”.2 In 2005, the CHOGM recognised the Principles as “an integral part of the Commonwealth fundamental political values as set out in the Harare Declaration”. Earlier that year the Commonwealth Secretariat ('with the four sponsoring organisations') had organised a Pan African Forum in Nairobi, Kenya. A Plan of Action for Africa on the Implementation of the Principles (“Nairobi Plan of Action”) was agreed by all as the way to implement the Principles in Africa and was endorsed by the Commonwealth Law Ministers Meeting. A colloquium of Ministers, Parliamentarians, judges, lawyers and legal academics held in the wings of the Commonwealth Law Ministers
Dr Karen Brewer is the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Magistrates’ and Judges’ Association (CMJA) since 1998, having previously worked as International Relations Officer at the Law Society of England and Wales. She is the Secretary of the Commonwealth Latimer House Working Group (1998-present) which advances the implementation of the Commonwealth Latimer House Principles. She has also held various other roles with Widows Rights International, the Commonwealth Working Group on Cybercrime, the Royal Commonwealth Society, the Commonwealth Lawyers Association, the Commonwealth Countries League and its Educational Fund and the Commonwealth Expert Group on Gender and Human Rights. She holds Doctorat d’Etat (with distinction) in International Law from the University of Paris (Pantheon–Sorbonne) and has written and spoken extensively on the separation of powers, judicial independence and women’s rights. In 2008, she received a Remember Africa Award for her contribution to Upholding Democracy and Peace in Africa. The following article expresses the views of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Commonwealth Magistrates’ and Judges’ Association. 286 | The Parliamentarian | 2023: Issue Four | 100 years of publishing
