UNCAT Investigation Standards
This section identifies references for the independent psychological, medical and legal evaluation of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
International Standards
Core International Instruments
- Istanbul Protocol (2022) — UN manual on effective investigation and documentation of torture and ill-treatment
Istanbul Protocol (2022)
The United Nations Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The Istanbul Protocol is the foundational international methodology for medico-legal evaluation of torture and CIDT, and the primary investigative standard the IAJ applies in its work. The 2022 revision updates the 1999 original with expanded chapters on psychological evaluation, legal implementation, and state obligations.
Open at OHCHR →Medical & Psychological Standards
IAJ Standards and Guides
- IAJ Psychological Investigation Standard
- IAJ Plain-Language Guide to Psychological Evaluation
- IAJ Quick Reference to Psychological Evaluation and Intermediate Manual
- IAJ Licensing Duty Equivalence Companion
IAJ Psychological Investigation Standard
Comprehensive procedural and forensic framework for psychological evidence, trauma-sensitive interviewing, evaluator ethics, and documentation. Version 1.5 (March 2026) is a 373-page methodological framework specifically tailored to the United States legal environment and adapted from the 2022 UN Istanbul Protocol.
Download PDF →IAJ Plain-Language Guide to Psychological Evaluation
Survivor-accessible explanation of evaluation rights, procedures, and protections. Written to be readable by non-specialists so that complainants can understand what a forensic psychological evaluation involves, what their rights are during the process, and what protections the IAJ Standard provides.
Download PDF →IAJ Quick Reference to Psychological Evaluation and Intermediate Manual
Companion guide to the IAJ Psychological Investigation Standard, providing a quick reference to evaluation rights, procedures, and protections for clinicians and advocates who need rapid orientation to the Standard.
Download PDF →IAJ Licensing Duty Equivalence Companion
Companion document to the IAJ Psychological Investigation Standard that maps each evaluator's licensure-tier (LCSW, LMFT, LPC, doctoral psychologist, neuropsychologist, psychiatrist) to the duties and scope-of-practice expectations IAJ applies in forensic evaluations under the Standard. Explains how state-level licensing scopes translate into IAJ's four-tier evaluator model, what each tier may and may not sign off on, and how supervision and review responsibilities are allocated across tiers when an evaluation requires capabilities beyond a single license.
Document ID: IAJ-STD-20260529-001-PUB · Classification: IAJ Standard · Access: Public
Download: IAJ Licensing Duty Equivalence Companion
PHR — Physicians for Human Rights
- PHR — Clinical Evaluations in Conflict Settings
- PHR — Istanbul Protocol Resource Hub
- PHR — Module 6: Psychological Evidence of Torture
- PHR — Strengthening Forensic Documentation of Torture
PHR — Clinical Evaluations in Conflict Settings
Field-ready guidance for clinicians conducting Istanbul Protocol evaluations in conflict and post-conflict settings. Published by Physicians for Human Rights in 2022.
Open PHR PDF →PHR — Istanbul Protocol Resource Hub
Central hub for Istanbul Protocol resources, clinical guidance, and training materials maintained by Physicians for Human Rights.
Open at phr.org →PHR — Module 6: Psychological Evidence of Torture
Training curriculum module for clinicians on the psychological evaluation and documentation of torture, part of PHR's Istanbul Protocol Model Medical Curriculum.
Open at phrtoolkits.org →PHR — Strengthening Forensic Documentation of Torture
Guide to strengthening forensic documentation methodologies, published by Physicians for Human Rights in 2024.
Open PHR PDF →IRCT — International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims
- IRCT Istanbul Protocol Programme
- Global Standards on Rehabilitation
- IRCT Justice and Accountability
- Survivor Engagement Framework
- IRCT E-Learning and Training
IRCT Istanbul Protocol Programme
Global hub for evaluator training, implementation tools, and clinical/psychological documentation guidance. Complements: IAJ Psychological Investigation Standard; IAJ Plain-Language Guide; Istanbul Protocol chapters II, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII(D).
Open at irct.org →Global Standards on Rehabilitation
Authoritative clinical standards for trauma-informed psychological assessment and multidisciplinary rehabilitation. Complements: IAJ Psychological Investigation Standard; PHR Clinical Evaluations; PHR Medical Curriculum.
Open at irct.org →IRCT Justice and Accountability
Resources on forensic documentation, strategic litigation, and accountability mechanisms. Complements: IAJ Psychological Investigation Standard; Practical Application of the Istanbul Protocol.
Open at irct.org →Survivor Engagement Framework
Trauma-informed, culturally sensitive, rights-respecting principles for clinical and psychological work with survivors. Complements: IAJ Plain-Language Guide; IAJ Psychological Investigation Standard (consent, interviewing, ethics).
Open at irct.org →IRCT E-Learning and Training
Training modules for clinicians and forensic experts on Istanbul Protocol implementation and survivor-centred practice. Complements: Practical Application of the Istanbul Protocol; IAJ Psychological Investigation Standard.
Open at irct.org →IFEG — International Forensic Expert Group
- International Forensic Expert Group (IFEG)
- IFEG Brochure and Expert Statements
- IFEG Contributions to the Istanbul Protocol
International Forensic Expert Group (IFEG)
Global network of 42 independent forensic experts from 23 countries supporting high-quality medical and psychological documentation of torture. Complements: IAJ Psychological Investigation Standard; Istanbul Protocol forensic methodology.
Open at irct.org →IFEG Brochure and Expert Statements
Authoritative statements on forensic evaluations, psychological torture, solitary confinement, medical records access, and related practices. Complements: IAJ Psychological Investigation Standard (psychological evidence); PHR Clinical Evaluations.
Open IFEG PDF →IFEG Contributions to the Istanbul Protocol
Forensic and psychological expertise embedded in the Istanbul Protocol, including the 2022 revision. Complements: All Istanbul Protocol chapter citations; IAJ Psychological Investigation Standard.
Open at irct.org →Legal Standards
Practical Application of the Istanbul Protocol
- IAJ Legal Investigation Standard for Torture and CIDT in the United States of America
- IAJ "Equivalence" Investigation in the USA: Domestic Legal Mechanisms Versus Self-Execution of the Convention Against Torture
IAJ Legal Investigation Standard for Torture and CIDT in the United States of America
IAJ's legal-investigation companion to the Istanbul Protocol, tailored to the U.S. legal environment, its treaty reservations, gaps in domestic enforcement, and the distinctive pattern of institutional and judicial human rights violations the IAJ investigates. Publication in preparation.
Status: In preparation — forthcoming.
IAJ "Equivalence" Investigation in the USA
Analytical framework comparing U.S. domestic legal mechanisms against the self-executing obligations of the UN Convention Against Torture, identifying where domestic procedures are substantively equivalent to treaty requirements and where gaps remain. Publication in preparation.
Status: In preparation — forthcoming.
Other Investigation Standards
Investigator Operating Instructions
- Level 1 IAJ Investigator: Role Description and Operating Instructions
- Level 1 Investigator — Quick Reference
Level 1 IAJ Investigator: Role Description and Operating Instructions
Operating manual for the IAJ's Level 1 investigator tier, implementing the Code of Ethics (§§1.4, 3.3, 4.5, 4.6, 11.3) at the intake-and-documentation level. Defines the Level 1 role — complainant intake, document inventory, contradiction preservation, contemporaneous recording, and routing to qualified Level 2 reviewers — and the boundaries of Level 1 work product: intake-triage classifications (strength ratings, contradiction classifications, missing-evidence priorities, issue-map flags) are preliminary and non-anchoring, are not findings, and do not determine the merits of any case.
The manual sets out consent procedures for audio/audio-video recording, withdrawal-of-consent handling, chain-of-custody and adverse-material preservation duties, the duty to refer pediatric forensic questions to qualified clinicians, and the gate that no substantive Level 1 work may begin until the most recent Code of Ethics has been acknowledged of record and the per-assignment conflict disclosure has been recorded.
Document ID: IAJ-STD-20260518-001-PUB
Download: Level 1 IAJ Investigator: Role Description and Operating Instructions
Level 1 Investigator — Quick Reference
Companion to the Level 1 Operating Manual and the Code of Ethics (v1.3). A two-page bench card distilling the Level 1 role into the essentials needed at the point of contact: the Central Rule (preserve the record, do not decide it), the five-layer interview method (free narration → chronological structuring → targeted clarification → sensitive areas → read-back), and a side-by-side table of permitted observation language vs. forbidden interpretation/diagnosis/advocacy language.
The back face lists what Level 1 may not do (no findings, no diagnosis, no legal or clinical advice, no document authentication, no minor-child interviews, no third-party contact absent authorization, no covert recording, no soliciting of sensitive records, no coaching of explanations); the per-contact Contact Log fields; the three-tier escalation table (same-day / 48-hour / routine) with the "default upward when in doubt" rule; the pre-handoff procedural checklist; the document hierarchy (Code → Manual → forms); and key Code cross-references at the Level 1 tier.
Document ID: IAJ-GDE-20260518-001-PUB · Classification: IAJ Guide · Access: Public
Download: Level 1 Investigator — Quick Reference
Reporting Standards
UNCAT Article 20 Reporting
- UNCAT Article 20 Operations Manual — For Civil-Society Submitters
UNCAT Article 20 Operations Manual — For Civil-Society Submitters (Public Edition)
Procedural guidance for civil-society organizations preparing submissions to the United Nations Committee against Torture under Article 20 of the Convention against Torture. Article 20 is a confidential, Committee-initiated inquiry mechanism into the systematic practice of torture by a State party — distinct from individual petition (Article 22), inter-State communications (Article 21), and periodic reporting (Article 19). The Manual makes the procedure legible to submitters so that submissions, conduct during a possible inquiry, and public communications track what Article 20 actually requires.
The Manual is organized in eight sections plus an Annex: (1) the procedural framework across Articles 19, 20, 21, 22, and 28; (2) the Committee's analytical categories used to evaluate Article 20 information — source reliability, corroboration, recurrence, geographic spread, institutional pattern, official involvement or acquiescence, severity threshold, Article 1 purpose element, remedial failure, vulnerability, retaliation risk, State knowledge with non-correction, and systematic-versus-episodic character; (3) the five operational stages of an Article 20 inquiry under Rules 75–90 of CAT/C/3/Rev.7; (4) a three-layer architecture for substantial submissions (Executive Trigger Memorandum, Pattern-Evidence Dossier, Confidential Annexes) with detailed drafting structure for Layer 1; (5) when supplementary submissions are appropriate and when they are not; (6) confidentiality discipline and the public-acknowledgment boundary, with a safe domestic formulation for litigation contexts; (7) sequencing with Article 19, Special Procedures, the UPR, regional human rights mechanisms, and other treaty bodies; and (8) realistic expectations including the Belarus 2024 timeline as a public comparator and the multi-Article 19-cycle long-term horizon.
Source claims throughout the Manual are labelled as [CONVENTION] (treaty text), [RULES] (Rules of Procedure), [PRACTICE] (inferred from Committee practice), or [PROTOCOL] (submitter-adopted operational discipline) so submitters can identify the authority behind each statement before relying on it. An Annex provides a verification table of Rules 75–90 with operative-content summaries and cross-references to prior Rules of Procedure numbering.
Document ID: IAJ-STD-20260528-001-PUB · Classification: IAJ Standard · Anchor: CAT/C/3/Rev.7 (5 July 2023) · Access: Public
Download: UNCAT Article 20 Operations Manual
Tribunal Standards
This section presents Tribunal rulings and model accommodations to guide courts in ensuring access to justice, per the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and human rights treaties, with particular focus on the UNCAT and the CRPD.
Accommodation Request Investigation Process
- Submit Request: Litigants or courts may submit accommodation requests through the secure portal after creating an account.
- Documentation Review: The Tribunal reviews all medical documentation and case specifics.
- Assessment: Tribunal advisors assess the case against established standards and international human rights frameworks.
- Ruling: A formal model ruling is issued, specifying the required accommodations and their legal basis.
- Implementation: Courts that have agreed to cooperate with the Tribunal on conforming with the model standards receive specific instructions for implementing the accommodations.
Note: All accommodation decisions may be used as model decisions and shall be based on international human rights standards, particularly the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the UN Convention Against Torture (UNCAT).
Need but did not receive Court Accommodations?
If you require accommodations for court proceedings based on disability, illness, or other qualifying conditions, and did not receive accommodations, our tribunal provides model rulings grounded in international human rights law and constitutional protections.