The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, has constituted a six-man panel of experts to conduct interim independent assessment of the administration of justice at the United Nations.
According to a brief from the Secretary-General’s office sent to UN Correspondents on Friday in New York, the experts are Jorge Bofil of Chile and Chris de Cooker of the Netherlands.
Others are Bob Hepplewhite of the UK, Hina Jikani of Pakistan, Navanethem Pillay of South Africa and Leonid Skotnikov of the Russian Federation.
The brief indicated that the establishment of the panel was in response to a request by the General Assembly in its resolution 69/203 of Dec. 18, 2014.
It said that pursuant to that resolution, the Panel shall examine the system of administration of justice in all its aspects.
It will give particular attention to the formal system and its relation with the informal system.
The group will conduct an analysis to determine whether the aims and objectives of the system were being achieved in an efficient and cost-effective manner.
It said in establishing the current system the Assembly envisaged an independent, transparent, professional, adequately resourced and decentralised system of administration of justice.
It said it also aimed to promote the rule of law and due process to ensure respect for the rights and obligations of workers and accountability by managers and workers alike.
In the brief, the Assembly also encouraged the resolution of workplace disputes through informal means whenever possible.
The General Assembly specified that the panel be selected to guarantee the independent nature of the assessment, taking into account geographical representation and gender balance, with a broad mix of expertise.
The Assembly said the panel must comprise of members with knowledge of internal United Nations processes and United Nations intergovernmental legislations.
The panel is expected to start work with immediate effect.
According to the brief, the General Assembly will consider the panel’s report at its 71st session which comes up in September 2016.