Chapter 4 • Independence and Impartiality of Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers manner as to preserve the dignity of their office and the impartiality and independence of the judiciary”.61 4.5.7 Training and education The training and continued education of judges in national and international human rights law is essential if it is to become a meaningful reality at the domestic level. Without such training, implementation of human rights law will remain illusory. The Human Rights Committee has on several occasions emphasized the importance of providing training in human rights law for judges, other legal professions and law enforcement officers.62 The Committee has further recommended that the Republic of the Congo should give “particular attention ... to the training of judges and to the system governing their recruitment and discipline, in order to free them from political, financial and other pressures, ensure their security of tenure and enable them to render justice promptly and impartially”; accordingly, it invited the State party “to adopt effective measures to that end and to take the appropriate steps to ensure that more judges are given adequate training”.63 Whether educational programmes such as, for instance, “social context education” should be made mandatory for judges, and, if so, in what way judges would be accountable for refusing to participate, is, however, an issue which has given rise to debate in Canada.64 The important point to emphasize in this respect is that it is in any event the Judiciary itself or the independent associations of judges that must ultimately be responsible for the promotion of the professional education and/or training concerned (cf. Principle 9 of the Basic Principles). 4.5.8 The right and duty to ensure fair court proceedings and give reasoned decisions The independence of a tribunal is indispensable to fair court proceedings, be they criminal or civil. As laid down in Principle 6 of the Basic Principles: “The principle of the independence of the judiciary entitles and requires the judiciary to ensure that judicial proceedings are conducted fairly and that the rights of the parties are respected.” 61 Somewhat more laconically, Council of Europe Recommendation No. R (94) 12 provides in Principle IV that judges “should be free to form associations which, either alone or with another body, have the task of safeguarding their independence and protect their interest”. 62 See, as to Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, UN doc. GAOR, A/54/40 (vol. 1), para. 134; and as to the Sudan, UN doc. GAOR, A/53/40 (vol. I), para. 132. 63 UN doc. GAOR, A/55/40 (vol. I), para. 280. 64 See speech given by the Rt. Hon. Antonio Lamer, P.C., Chief Justice of Canada, “The Tension Between Judicial Accountability and Judicial Independence: A Canadian Perspective” (Singapore Academy of Law Annual Lecture 1996), published at www.sal.org.sg/lect96.html, discussion at pp. 8-9. Principle V.3.g of the Council of Europe Recommendation provides that judges should have the responsibility “to undergo any necessary training in order to carry out their duties in an efficient and proper manner”. Human Rights in the Administration of Justice: A Manual on Human Rights for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers 133