The Rule of Law and the protection of human rights, which demand ever vigilant safeguarding even in the best of times, become particularly vulnerable to erosion when countries pass through periods of crisis and strife. Armed conflict, terrorism, political instability, insurgency and states of emergency, food crises, and natural disasters, all can place great strain on the democratic institutions necessary for ensuring the enjoyment of human rights and the fair administration of justice. Judges and legal practitioners frequently absorb a large brunt of stress during such times of crisis. At the same time, they play a special role as the last line of defence against the exercise of arbitrary power by political, military and other actors. The ICJ from its inception has understood this solemn responsibility and has sought to mobilise jurists in support of the Rule of Law to advance human rights. In its first general pronouncement in 1955, the Act of Athens, the ICJ declared that “[j]udges should be guided by the Rule of Law, protect and enforce it without fear or favour and resist any encroachments by governments or political parties on their independence as judges.” In addition, “[l]awyers of the world should preserve the independence of their profession [and] assert the rights of the indi vidual under the Rule of Law.” At its next Conference in New Delhi in 1959, the ICJ, in its influential Declaration of Delhi, set forth a defining vision for the Rule of Law, “recogniz[ing] that the Rule of Law is a dynamic concept for the expansion and fulfillment of which jurists are primarily responsible and which should be employed […] to safeguard and advance [human] rights”. In subsequent declara tions and resolutions over the last five decades, the ICJ built on these seminal principles, each time committing itself to press for the engagement of the legal profession at the heart of the development and advancement of universal human rights in all of their dimensions. At its world Congress in Geneva in December 2008, the ICJ Commissioners, Honorary Members, National Sections, Affiliated Organisations and Secretariat came together to explore ways to address the serious challenges confronted by the legal community in crisis situations and to affirm our responsibility to meet those challenges. At that meeting, the Congress adopted its Declaration on Upholding the Rule of Law and the Role of Judges and Lawyers in Times of Crisis (The Geneva Declaration). This Declaration sets out a number of key principles to which all judges and legal practitioners should adhere. These principles concern such areas as the separation of powers; the function of judicial review; effective administration of justice, including through the provision of remedy and repara tion; the right to a fair trial by an independent and impartial tribunal; the terms and conditions of tenure of judges: judicial responsibility in states of emergency; protection of judges and legal professionals from threats and persecution; and the accountability of judges and lawyers for unethical or criminal conduct