JANZ congratulates the Honourable Chris Bishop on his new role as Aotearoa New Zealand’s Attorney General. Chris Bishop holds a first-class Honours degree in Law (alongside a Bachelor of Arts) from Victoria University of Wellington, and now picks up the reigns as the principal legal advisor to the Government.
The Attorney-General has particular responsibility for maintaining the rule of law, upholding the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 and connecting the judiciary and executive government. The Attorney-General recommends the appointment of judges, and has an important role in defending the judiciary by answering improper or unfair public criticism, and discouraging ministerial colleagues from criticising judges and their decisions.
This week, we received a timely reminder of the importance of judicial independence with an IAJ drafted article on the situation of justice in Latin America and Tunisia. This article is based on the resolutions adopted by the IBA group and the IAJ, drafted by our French colleague, Natacha Aubeneau. JANZ strongly supports the individual and collective independence of judges at home and abroad.
You can read the French version of the article (published in the French online legal journal Actu Juridique ) on the following link: La Justice sous pression en Amérique latine - Actu-Juridique.
For those of you for which “plume de ma tante est sur la table” is about as good as your French gets, the English summary is here:
“Latin America is going through a profound rule-of-law crisis. In many countries, judges are facing increasing pressure: physical violence, threats from organized crime, smear campaigns, political interference, abusive disciplinary or even criminal proceedings, exile, and assassinations. While the forms these threats take vary from one country to another, they all point to the same danger: the weakening of judicial independence, a cornerstone of any democracy.
Judges under pressure
Threats linked to organized crime have evolved into more institutional and political forms of pressure, particularly in the context of anti-corruption efforts.
The International Association of Judges (IAJ) and its South American regional group (IBA) adopted a resolution on April 26, 2026 concerning Peru (available here), denouncing the way in which Peru’s National Council of Justice conducted the evaluation proceedings against Judge Oswaldo Ordóñez Alcántara, President of the National Association of Judges of Peru. The organization expressed concern over the questions put to the judge regarding his participation in a hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The IAJ recalled that judges retain their freedom of expression and their right to participate in international forums.
A judge assassinated in Bolivia
The assassination, on May 1st, 2026, of Judge Víctor Hugo Claure, a member of the country’s highest agro-environmental court, caused deep concern within the international judicial community.
On May 2, 2026, the IAJ adopted a resolution (available here), stating that the assassination of a judge “sends a message of intimidation to the judiciary as a whole” and condemning the lack of sufficient measures to protect Bolivian judges. It called for an independent investigation, protection measures for judges, and an end to practices likely to undermine their security or independence.
Controlling judicial appointments: another form of political interference
In Mexico, a constitutional reform now provides for the election of certain judges. In a resolution dated August 27, 2024 (available here), the IAJ warned about this reform, whose purpose appeared clear: to replace a technical judicial career system with an electoral process giving political authorities oversight over judicial activity.
In Chile, the situation is similar. In a resolution adopted in October 2025 (available here), the IAJ denounced a reform of the judicial appointment system revealing political interference, the use of criminal proceedings against judges because of their judicial decisions, as well as threats and intimidation campaigns targeting members of the judiciary.
The IAJ’s recent resolutions illustrate the two major threats currently weighing on justice systems in Latin America: on the one hand, physical and criminal violence; on the other, political and institutional pressure. In both cases, the result is similar: judges work in a climate of fear, vulnerability, and constant mistrust. Yet without judges free from all forms of pressure, it becomes impossible to effectively protect fundamental rights, combat corruption, or guarantee fair trials.
Beyond the individual fate of threatened judges, what is now at stake is the democratic balance and the very future of the rule of law across all continents.”
Another interesting article is published by Actu Juridique on: “Tunisia: when defending Justice leads to a prison sentence” (available here) about our colleague Anas Hmedi, president of the Association of Tunisian Judges.