Tilburg Law School starts a Microjustice Reteach Program

Tilburg Law School, part of Tilburg University located in southern Netherlands, was an early partner to ILA's microjustice initiative through professor J.M. Barendrecht. In fact, the initial concept was presented in a paper co-authored between ILA and the school. I'm taking the liberty of reproducing the school's program on microjustice, from its website, as follows (UPDATED: see also it's various useful microjustice publications as well as the team's contact information): 

The Great Firewall is only one small part of Chinese censorship

It seems that the Great Chinese Firewall is in conversations everywhere these days. I myself posted about my lack of access to this blog every time I visit Beijing. But yet, especially given this report I blogged about last year, that is only a part of the means of control. I'm reminded to remind my readers about this fact after coming across Rebecca Mackinnon's blog post last month, which I really liked because she gave a more personal insight on Chinese censorship than her recent AWSJ article.  

Youtube channel for UNDP Legal Empowerment of the Poor

In addition to the website I announced earlier, UNDP a few months ago has also set up a youtube channel under the username LegalEmpowerment1. You can subscribe to it. I'm hoping that there will be more useful and powerful content than the typical conference/workshop presentations and PR-type interviews that are currently uploaded. While still pretty PR-ish, this video about the Kenyan Toi Market (which includes Madeline Albright  giving a speech), and which subject matter was used as a case study in the Commission's Report, is interesting- the on-the-ground stories can be replicated in Asia and other developing countries.

UNDP Legal Empowerment Website: http://www.undp.org/legalempowerment/

I first blogged about the UN Commission of the Legal Empowerment of the Poor in a 2005 post here, and pointed readers to their website through my 2006 post here. Since then I've posted some of their followings and also some activities I've been involved with. Following the Forum in Davos in January 2007 and the launch of their report earlier this year in June (2008), the Commission announced the closure of the Commission site (which will be archived and still accessible), and the launch of the UNDP Legal Empowerment site.  


I will write more about the report soon (although I'm sure that there will be articles on the internet soon if not already), but for now, I would say that I'm pretty impressed at how methodological the group had been in terms of meeting its mandate and timeline. More than anything, including substance, I am most glad that this issue has been put into the global agenda. I'm excited to see how it will evolve and how I will continue to be a part of it.

Microjustice4All Website Launched

In addition to conversations about launching a second pilot after its year or so experience in Bolivia, ILA has launched a website for microjustice called Microjustice4All (www.microjustice4all.org). There is some basic information, but I would like to introduce the concept of microjustice (though I've blogged about it previously) from the horse's mouth:

What is Microjustice

In countries where a large part of the population lacks sufficient resources to subsist, access to a series of basic rights (like civil documentation and registration of property) often becomes a very difficult task; full of obstacles, lacking information and often financially inaccessible. In other words, for people in the most vulnerable groups it is especially difficult to exercise rights which are officially recognized and provided by the State.

What is Microjustice

The main concept of microjustice is empowering the poor through giving them access to their rights. Inspired by microfinance, microjustice is an international initiative that aims to facilitate access to the basic legal needs for the poorest sectors of the population and, in doing so, allowing them the same enjoyment of rights as the rest of the population. This initiative, as that of microservices in general, is based on the principles of solidarity and sustainability.

The UNDP recognises four main pillars of microjustice: access to right, property right, labour right and business right. Locally, many other kinds of rights (like educational rights, reproductive rights, rights of religion) can be relevant.

Why use the term Micro?

Micro does not refer to Justice itself, which is neither micro nor macro but rather an all encompassing term. The term Micro is chosen referring to:

1. 
   
   The minimum or basic needs of people for them to feel citizens in full enjoyment of their rights
2. 
   
   A service provided on an individual level, developing individualized solutions
3. 
   
   Emphasize the parallel that exists between Microjustice, microfinance and microinsurances and borrowing from them the term micro.

One of the reasons why I love California- technology, and progressiveness (well, most times...). From the Chronicle of Higher Education: (the WSJ article is also pretty interesting)

(Update: 14/11/2008  You can visit the SL Bar Association for upcoming CLE topics and speakers.)

California Bar Association Sanctions Legal Training in Virtual World

In a sign that virtual reality is becoming mainstream, a program in the virtual world Second Life, on the application of law in virtual worlds is counting for continuing legal education credit by the State Bar of California.

The blog, Legal Pad, states the four-part speaker series, which is sponsored by the Second Life Bar Association, began Tuesday with 25 avatars in attendance. The first session lasted two hours and included a discussion about copyright and trademark infringement.

The session went well except for a few glitches, the blog reports. “Some couldn’t log on, some couldn’t hear, and then there was the fashion crisis. Kate Fitz, the Sacramento County law librarian who was instrumental in getting accreditation for the program, said a glitch caused her ‘nice suit skirt’ to look like bike shorts.”

The Wall Street Journal also ran an article Thursday that says virtual worlds “have quietly slipped into the mainstream.”—Andrea L. Foster

Philippines Supreme Court Forum on Access to Justice 6/30- 7/2

I attended the Supreme Court of Philippines's forum Access to Justice from June 30 to July 1. Called "Forum on Increasing Access to Justice: Bridging Gaps and Removing Roadblocks", the Court received input from different stakeholders of the justice system, particularly the sectors that are most vulnerable, regarding their issues and concerns on access to justice, particularly through the judicial system, and recommendations on how the Court may address the same.

The Forum was held simultaneously through video conferencing in Manila, Cebu, and Cagayan de Oro. Materials from the conference can be accessed here: http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/publications/A2JForum/index.php. I hope to have more personal analysis of the issues on hand soon!

Summary of the Report by UN Commission on Legal Empowerment

I mentioned in a recent post on The UN Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor that the commision has released its 110-page report called Making the Law Work for Everybody. I would like to provide a brief summary of the report, and some initial thoughts about it. 

Background:

Legal Empowerment Initiative was launched in 2005 by a group of developing and industrialized countries including Canada, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, Guatemala, Iceland, India, Norway, Sweden, South Africa, Tanzania and the United Kingdom, and has a mandate to complete its work in 2008, which it did so with great speed. The Commission is hosted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and consisted of a stellar cast inclusing 19 former or current Presidents, Madeleine Albright and Hernando do Soto (a Peruvian economist that some view as controversial). It aims to make legal protection and economic opportunity not the privilege of the few but the right of all. (If you have been folowoing this blog, you will know that I have been reporting on the Commission's major activities.)

Basis of Analysis

Unlike the dominant Rule of Law practices which focus overwhelmingly on top-down institutional reform, the Commission bases its analysis from the bottom-up angle of the poor. In particular, it considers the actual rights and legal issues that impact the poor. 

Findings:

• Four billion people worldwide are excluded from access to justice and the rule of law/legal protection and opportunities
• In some countries, over 70% of economic activities take place in the informal sector, without legal protection. They lack basic rights such as having a legal identity, property rights, legal employment and business rights. The importance and size of this sector has long been underestimated in the context of international development.
• The majority of those living their daily lives in the informal sector are women. 
• The Commission formed five working groups which examined these areas
• access to justice and the rule of law (how access to justice and the rule of law can be reformed in individual countries in order to ensure universal legislation that safeguards the poor)
• property rights (how property rights can be used as tools for fighting poverty)
• labor rights (how a minimum package of labour rights is required for workers) and 
• (small) business rights (how the poor involved in economic activities can be given both protection and opportunities through laws and regulations)
• These are the four 'pillars' that form the foundation for legal empowerment of the poor. Specifically they are:
• an enabling framework for access of justice and rule of law (beginning first with legal identity)
• property rights (especially land-related)
• labor rights
• small business rights
• Relationship between these four pillars: There is a connection between the right to safe and protected work, the right to do business within the bounds of the law, and property rights. These are three pillars that must be put in place through a process of legal empowerment reforms in which everyone is given access to justice and the rule of law, beginning with legal identity of each person. 

• Some specific recommendations to these pillars are: 
• focusing at the local level 
• access to services at the local level
• affordable legal aid
• ensuring quick and simple property registration procedures
• basic rights for people in the informal sector. 
• property rights should be safeguarded
• property rights can be used creatively; ie collective rights should be used as a tool for providing the poor with access to technology and financial services. 
• the various rights are interrelated
• Recommendations on Implementation:
• Legitimize implementation on overarching frameworks such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other legal covenants, which already bound governments who have ratified them
• Analysis based on each contextual situation is needed (including the current policy environment), and timing must be right
• Start with change and some (not all) areas, grow in increments
• Manage stakeholders, mobilize allies: Form networks of pro-poor change involving leaders across society, especially among 'policy champions' 
• Learn from lessons learned by other countries, remain flexible
• International efforts, including collaboration and creating of legal instruments

My initial response:

• There is inherent benefit in propelling this issue to the global agenda through these high-level UN Commissions;
• Whatever the details, the angle of bottom-up legal empowerment offers a complimentary (and maybe even alternative) to the practice of law and development via the current Rule of Law paradigm. 
• It is certainly a more compelling idea, tied in with the concept of freedom/rights, the MGDs, and being people-centered. 
• My worry about the focus on the four pillars is that other important legal issues might be excluded in certain situations- such as rights against violence. Moreover, many other systemic factors need to be taken into account, and are usually the causes of poverty (not the lack of legal empowerment). 
• My worry too, is isolating legal empowerment as a 'sector' or 'program' at the risk of the lack of integration with other sectors of development- legal rights, like 'eduction' or 'technology;  should cut across all sectors. 
• While there is some acknowledgement of the roles of NGOs and civil society, their important role in implementation seems to be overshadowed by that of national governments and international organizations.