Mr. President,

The Kingdom of the Netherlands aligns itself with the EU statement. We thank the Special Rapporteur for her insightful report on safeguarding the independence of judicial systems. 

The Netherlands is deeply concerned about the worrying trends in many countries related to the undermining of the independence of the judiciary and the criminalisation of justice actors.  

This endangers the very essence of human rights, which is based on fair and equal access to justice for all, a fundamental principle that has been recently recalled in SDG 16. Putting pressure on judicial independence for political or other ends erodes the trust in the judiciary and the rule of law, which are fundamental pillars of democracy.

Judicial impartiality and independence must be a priority in the fight to secure human rights at the national level. We emphasize the importance for all States to follow the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur to make protection schemes available for justice actors, seek to prevent reprisals against justice actors, and to provide adequate resourcing to grassroots justice efforts. 

Madam Special Rapporteur, 
How can States build more effective protection systems that can support justice actors who are targeted or criminalized? And how can those justice actors contribute to building those systems, as they know best what is needed.