Institute of Commonwealth Studies and International Commission of Jurists: On 3 March 2026, the Commonwealth Secretariat (ComSec), the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and the Institute of Commonwealth Studies (ICwS) – together with the Permanent Mission of Fiji to the UN in Geneva – held a side event on the margins of the on-going 61st session of the Human Rights Council to showcase and discuss their Practitioners’ Guide (PG) on a human rights-based approach to criminal law, including to the decriminalization of conduct associated with poverty, homelessness and status.  Speakers teased out and debated the pertinence and necessity of a human rights-based approach to criminal law with respect to the criminalization of conduct associated with poverty, homelessness and status.

In her opening remarks, Ambassador Tikomaisuva-Seruvatu, Deputy Permanent Representative of Fiji to the UN in Geneva, praised the PG as a reference and practical guide to justice sector actors and others, offering a clear, accessible and operational legal framework and practical legal guidance on a human rights-based approach to criminal law, including on ways to further the decriminalization of conduct associated with poverty, homelessness and status.   

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