Judicial independence as the key cornerstone for Syria’s democratic transition: how to address the risk of capture and ensure fair administration of justice, impartiality and accountability

Ms. Margaret Satterthwaite was appointed as United Nations Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers by the Human Rights Council in October 2022. Professor Satterthwaite is an international human rights scholar and practitioner with decades of experience in the field. She is a Professor of Clinical Law at New York University School of Law, where she directs the Global Justice Clinic and serves as a faculty director of the Robert and Helen Bernstein Institute for Human Rights and the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice. Her scholarship has focused on access to justice, legal empowerment, and methodological innovation in human rights, among other topics, and she has published several edited volumes and dozens of articles and book chapters. Professor Satterthwaite has worked with individuals and communities seeking to realize their rights around the world, including in Guyana, Haiti, Kenya, Nigeria, Northern Ireland, Uganda, the United States, and Yemen. She has litigated in international and domestic fora, including the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Professor Satterthwaite graduated magna cum laude from NYU School of Law. She clerked for a US Court of Appeals judge and subsequently for judges of the International Court of Justice. She has worked for a variety of human rights organizations, including Amnesty International USA, where she co-founded and then directed the organization’s program to defend the human rights of those persecuted on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity. She also worked with Street Law, Human Rights First, and the Haitian Truth and Justice Commission. She has also served as a human rights consultant and advising expert to the World Health Organization, the World Bank, and two UN Special Rapporteurs. She has been a member of the boards of directors of several human rights organizations, including Amnesty International USA, the Global Initiative on Economic and Social Rights, the International Service for Human Rights, and Digital Democracy.

Specialising in international, appellate and complex litigation, I undertaken some of the highest profile cases in the country and abroad. I am a solicitor with expertise in constitutional, human rights, IP, media and regulatory work, defamation, privacy, media, art and cultural property, data protection and freedom of information, trusts litigation, intellectual property and international arbitration disputes. I have created a niche in international comparative media law and regulation. He acts in judicial reviews, Privy Council cases- Ultimate Appeal Court for parts of the Commonwealth, as well as, regulatory cases and inquiries.