Instituted by the UN General Assembly in 1966, the award is presented every five years to individuals or institutions “for outstanding contributions to the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms”.
The ICJ was a recipient of the Fifth Award on the occasion of the forty-fifth Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
It was awarded to the ICJ because “It has actively contributed to the elaboration of international and regional standards and has helped to secure their adoption and implementation by governments. The Commission has closely collaborated with the United Nations and actively works at the regional level to strengthen human rights institutions, with particular emphasis on the promotion of the independence of the judiciary”.