Doha: The second meeting of the high-level committee of legal experts began at the Arab League General Secretariat headquarters in Cairo yesterday to prepare a draft protocol statute of the Arab Court of Human Rights.
The meeting was chaired by Qatari Ambassador Dr Ahmed Al Hammadi, the Director of Legal Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and attended by Arab League Secretary General Dr Nabil Al Arabi.
In a statement, Al Arabi stressed the importance of the three-day meeting which will discuss the draft statute of the court, being set up at the initiative of the King of Bahrain H M Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
It was endorsed by the Arab Summit in Doha last March.
He also highlighted the significance of setting up such a court which resembles human rights courts in Europe, Latin America and Africa.
The court aims to monitor implementation by member states of their obligations arising from the Arab Charter on Human Rights. It will have seven judges from Arab League member states, who will be elected via secret ballot.
Judges will elected for a six-year term with the possibility of re-election for only one more term, and the court will elect from among its members a chairman and a vice-chairman for two years who may be re-elected once.
The court may at the request of a member state issue opinions on legal matters related to the charter and may at any stage of proceedings cooperate with the parties to the conflict to reach a solution.
The establishment of the court is in line with necessary legal mechanism to support the human rights system within the framework of the Arab League.
QNA
