On 14 June 2024, around 300 legal professionals, bar association representatives, academics, criminal justice experts, human rights advocates and journalists from around the world gathered online and in person in Manila, the Philippines to participate in the 2024 International Fair Trial Day and Ebru Timtik Award at the University of the Philippines College of Law.
International Fair Trial Day (IFTD) was established in 2021 by more than 100 legal associations across the world, to be observed every year on 14 June. It serves as an opportunity to raise awareness of the plight of those in countries where fair trial principles are not being respected. The right to a fair trial has long been recognised by the international community as an absolute right. Without a fair trial, every individual risks becoming the victim of a miscarriage of justice, either as an innocent suspect wrongly convicted or as a victim unable to secure justice for a wrong perpetrated against them.
On IFTD, the Ebru Timtik Award is granted to individuals or organisations that have demonstrated outstanding commitment and sacrifice in upholding fundamental values related to the right to a fair trial. The award is named after a lawyer from Turkey who died in August 2020 following a 238-day hunger strike in protest against the fair trial rights violations in her country, which Ebru Timtik experienced first-hand both as a lawyer and as an accused.
Each year, the IFTD highlights the barriers to a fair trial in a specific country, with a focus on solutions. In 2024, the Philippines was chosen due to persistent reports of serious and widespread fair trial rights violations. Grave flaws in the justice system prevail, including a failure to observe due process guarantees, a lack of independence of the judiciary and corruption. Against this background, lawyers, judges, prosecutors, journalists and human rights defenders face a range of risks including threats, arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and enforced disappearance. Some have even been killed. A climate of impunity, notably with ineffective and delayed investigations, ensures there is a lack of accountability for these violations.
In 2024, the Ebru Timtik Award was awarded to the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers, in the Philippines, for its outstanding legal services and advocacy in defence of access to justice and fair trial rights for all in the Philippines (see below for more details).