Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla will address the United Nations Human Rights Council’s 52nd Regular Session in Geneva, Switzerland today, 1 March 2023. Remulla leads a delegation composed of officials from the Department of Justice and the Permanent Mission of the Philippines in Geneva.
Remulla will update the HRC on justice-related reforms being undertaken by the Philippine government under the Marcos administration.
On 28 February, he joined a panel discussion on prison and justice sector reforms and human rights hosted by the Permanent Missions of the Philippines, Norway, and Thailand to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva.
During the high-level segment of the 52nd regular session of the HRC on 1 March, Remulla will stress the importance of upholding sovereignty and harnessing international solidarity in the promotion of human rights.
He is expected to meet with several officials, including HRC President Vaclav Balek, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, Australian Assistant Foreign Minister Tim Watts, and UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Director General Majid Al Suwaldi.
In 2022, he represented the Philippine government during the Universal Periodic Review’s 4th Cycle. The UPR is a peer-review mechanism of the UNHRC where the human rights records of all countries are reviewed regularly.
This is the fourth time the Philippines has participated in the UPR, with previous reviews in 2008, 2012, and 2017.
Last December, Remulla guaranteed during the 51st UN Human Rights Council Enhanced Interactive Dialogue in Geneva that the Philippine government is committed to reforming its judicial and law enforcement systems to deliver “real justice in real-time.”