International Legal Assistance Consortium
Rebuilding Justice Systems
Participants of the ILAC 2019 AGM at the Law Society in London. Photo: ILAC
On 30-31 May, ILAC held its 2019 Annual General Meeting (AGM) in London, UK, hosted by The Law Society of England and Wales. The meeting focused on the global trend of closing space for the judiciary and the challenges of implementing Sustainable Development Goal 16 of the 2030 Agenda. [Read more…]
ILAC is pleased to welcome the World Justice Project as one of our rule of law member organisations. Represented by Joel Martinez, Engagement Director of the World Justice Project’s, the organisation was elected to join ILAC at our 2019 Annual General Meeting, recently hosted by our member The Law Society in London, United Kingdom. [Read more…]
Photo: Florida State University
On May 20 the legal world lost a legal titan and steadfast supporter of the Rule of Law when Talbot “Sandy” D’Alemberte, former member of the ILAC Executive Committee member, passed away, at age 85.
D’Alemberte was a respected American lawyer, educator, human rights champion, access to justice advocate, and citizen of the world. [Read more…]
Dr Mark Ellis receives ILAC Lifetime Membership Award from ILAC President, Elizabeth Howe, and ILAC Executive Director, Agneta Johansson. Photo: ILAC
It was Dr Mark Ellis, together with other ILAC founder members, who held the vision that led to the creation of ILAC, being an organisation that could coordinate and manage the activities of legal assistance organisations to be more effective in the re-establishment of the rule of law in war-torn countries.
Photo: ILAC
Last month ILAC officially returned to Liberia in order to conduct a new assessment on access to justice in Liberia. The new report will examine the role of a spectrum of actors that contribute to resolving disputes in Liberia. This includes the judges, prosecutors and lawyers that comprise the formal justice system, as well as traditional and customary authorities that resolve many disputes in rural parts of the country. [Read more…]
Oftentimes when I lecture on human rights, which includes women’s rights, I explain to my students that the achievement of human rights and gender equality is a process rather than a fixed result. The struggle to achieve the fulfilment of human rights is a means to an end, rather than an end in itself. Swedish Foreign Minister, [Read more…]
On 2-4 April, ILAC held an internal conference in Tunisia to discuss ways to advance the design, management and evaluation of its projects and rule of law support. ILAC and member organisations implementing ILAC’s Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Syria Programmes met to discuss ways to develop adaptive management approaches to ILAC programming and to increase the flexibility and effectiveness of our projects. [Read more…]
Photo: ILAC
When Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire nine years ago after he was refused an audience with the governor’s office in the rural town of Sidi Bouzid to reclaim his vegetable cart, initially confiscated by the police, he inspired riots across Tunisia. The protests saw people demanding a solution to the high unemployment rates, long-standing inequality, corruption, poor living conditions and a absence of political freedom. [Read more…]
A delegation of four Cuban legal professionals from the National Union of Jurists of Cuba (UNJC) participated in an exchange in Stockholm, Sweden last week on sustainable development and rule of law.
Organised by ILAC and the Swedish Bar Association, the topics discussed during the exchange included corporate responsibility and governance, trade and investment in Sweden, business and the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 agenda, rule of law and the Swedish legal environment, fight against bribery, corruption and money laundering, preventing discrimination and how legal academics work. [Read more…]
© Wikimedia Commons
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Based on the findings of its recent assessment report on Guatemala, the International Legal Assistance Consortium (ILAC) expresses its concern that recent efforts to prosecute Constitutional Court justices for the legal opinions they have expressed in the exercise of their duties place the justice system and rule of law in Guatemala on the verge of collapse. [Read more…]
Judge Thomas Buergenthal speaking at 2018 Stockholm Human Rights Award © Tomas Knutson
The 10th Stockholm Human Rights Award honoured judge and professor of law Thomas Buergenthal at a ceremony held in Stockholm, Sweden, on November 20. Having devoted his career to the protection, promotion and teaching of human rights and international law, judge Buergenthal highlighted the importance of a comprehensive and intelligent nationwide programme on human rights education as the solution to defeat endemic human rights violations. [Read more…]
On 06 November, ILAC member organisation the Law Society of England and Wales arranged a UK launch for the new ILAC assessment report on the justice system in Guatemala. The public seminar brought together legal practitioners, law students, academics and NGO expertise on Guatemala and Latin America for a well-attended and wide-ranging discussion of the report.
Iván Velásquez, head of UN-backed International Committee against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) and Thelma Aldana, former Guatemalan Attorney General. ©Oficina de Comunicaciones CICIG
Date: Friday, November 23, 2018
Time: 10:30 – 12:00
Location: Sida, Valhallavägen 199, Stockholm
In collaboration with Sida and the Right Livelihood Foundation, ILAC will participate on a public discussion on the challenges Guatemala currently faces in its struggle against corruption and impunity. [Read more…]
ILAC Guatemala Assessment Mission experts Luis Maria Palma, Carolina Valenzuela and Rhodri Williams present the report in Washington DC. ⓒ Hope Ann Roberts
Rule of law practitioners, ambassadors and experts on Latin America joined ILAC for the launch of its report on the Guatemalan justice sector in Washington DC last month. The launch was organised by ILAC member the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative and hosted by another member, the International Association of Women Judges.
Read report in English |Lea el informe en español | Watch the launch here
©Wikimedia Commons
The International Legal Assistance Consortium will initiate the public launch of its report on the Guatemalan justice sector today in Washington, D.C at 14h30 (Washington DC local time). The report, which is available in English and in Spanish, describes the challenges Guatemala faces in building greater respect for the rule of law and sets out recommendations to assist national actors and international partners in this effort. [Read more…]
Advocate for fundamental and civil rights, Mr Bennazar is a founding member of ILAC and former Board of Directors member.
Juan Bennazar has been an active and valued voice within ILAC since its inception. Our Consortium now counts as members over 50 professional legal organisations and experts from all over the world, reflecting a wide-range of legal expertise and competencies which can be drawn upon to help rebuild justice systems in countries that are fragile or conflict-affected. A passionate defender of the rule of law, Juan has contributed extensively and importantly towards ILAC’s achievements over the past 17 years. Juan’s sharp mind and quick wit together with his unfailing sense of humour and traditional Spanish courtesy have always been much appreciated by his colleagues within ILAC. [Read more…]
Date: Wednesday, 10 October 2018
Time: 2:30 pm-4:00 pm, registration will begin at 2:00 pm
Venue: International Association of Women Judges
1800 Massachusetts Ave NW Suite 401, Washington, DC 20036
Judge Thomas Buergenthal is announced 2018 Stockholm Human Rights Award laureate
Stockholm, Sweden
Holocaust survivor and human rights advocate judge Thomas Buergenthal is announced today as the 2018 Stockholm Human Rights Award laureate. Having devoted his career to the protection and promotion of human rights and international law, Judge Buergenthal will be honoured at a ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden on 20 November 2018. The award is given in recognition of work advancing international justice and strengthening respect for human rights. [Read more…]
Stockholm, Sweden
Based on the findings of its recent assessment report on Guatemala, the International Legal Assistance Consortium (ILAC) calls on the Government of Guatemala to demonstrate its commitment to overcoming corruption and impunity by reaffirming its support for the work of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) under its current Commissioner, Mr. Iván Velásquez.
Dr Rodger Chongwe at 2018 ILAC Annual General Meeting
I first came to know of Rodger Chongwe in 1997; he had been shot in the head by paramilitary police in his home country, Zambia. Rodger was at that time the Chairman of a coalition of opposition parties that was campaigning to rein in the corrupt practices of the President and Government; Rodger had been the Justice Minister in that Government and had remonstrated with the President, at first in private and later in cabinet, about unconstitutional and illegal actions; eventually Rodger felt he could not in good conscience remain in post, he resigned and continued to campaign publically for Presidential probity and integrity. [Read more…]
Blog piece by Shane Quinn
As Tunisia steadily moves forwards with its decentralisation reform, there is an onus on administrative justice institutions to ensure that they can maintain the pace in terms of organisation, responsiveness and accountability. Building or reforming institutional capability in politically shaky settings is not easy at the best of times – doing so on the back of a revolution under the inscrutable and watchful eye of an informed and demanding population adds vital momentum. And so it should be. Yet, the pace of reform has been slow even if the stakes are high. [Read more…]
In 2017, we celebrated our fifteenth year as a Consortium, reconfirming our vision and mission as well as setting our strategic priorities for the next five years.
Since we were founded, our Consortium has gathered over 50 professional legal organisations and experts from all over the world that reflect a wide-range of legal expertise and competencies which can be drawn upon to help rebuild justice systems in countries that are fragile or conflict-affected. [Read more…]
Representing the International Criminal Court Bar Association (ICCBA), Chief Charles Taku speaks at 2018 Annual General Meeting
ILAC is delighted to welcome the International Legal Foundation and International Criminal Court Bar Association to our Consortium as organisational members. Both organisations were unanimously elected to join ILAC by our 2018 Annual General Meeting in Stockholm, Sweden. [Read more…]
On May 31, ILAC together with the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), organised a seminar on “Promoting Complementarity: How Can International Rule of Law Assistance Support Engagement with Customary Justice in Fragile Settings?” at Sida’s headquarters in Stockholm. [Read more…]
ILAC Executive Director Agneta Johansson speaks at ILAC 2018 Annual General Meeting
ILAC congratulates our members and secretariat for yet another successful Annual General Meeting.
ILAC hosted over forty of our member representatives for our sixteenth Annual General Meeting in Stockholm, Sweden earlier this month. In addition to Consortium housekeeping, such as updating ILAC’s by-laws and holding elections, the Meeting discussed dissemination targets for our recently released Rule of Law Assessment Report for Guatemala (2017) as well as renewed efforts to update ILAC’s assessment methodology and how we set geographic priorities. [Read more…]
Stockholm, Sweden — The International Legal Assistance Consortium (ILAC) today released a new report that examines the situation of the judiciary and public prosecution in Guatemala. ILAC’s Rule of Law Assessment Report on Guatemala provides a baseline for efforts to analyze the rule of law in Guatemala, including challenges such as the justice for crimes committed during the 1960-1996 internal armed conflict, disputes over land and natural resources, criminalization of protests, discrimination against women and LGBTI persons, and marginalization of indigenous communities. [Read more…]
© Jacques Jagoeux
On 31 May, Thursday, ILAC and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) will co-host the seminar “Promoting Complementarity: How Can International Rule of Law Assistance Support Engagement with Customary Justice in Fragile Settings?”.
Date: Thursday, 31 May, 2018
Time: 14.00-16.15
Venue: Sida, Valhallavägen 199, Stockholm
ILAC Senior Legal Expert Rhodri Williams welcomes discussants and audience to the session on “Legitimacy, Accountability and Access to Justice” at the 2018 Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development. ©Vanessa Passos
For the third year running, ILAC partnered with the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) to contribute to the annual Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development, held 7-9 May. The Stockholm Forum is co-hosted by SIPRI and the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and promotes interdisciplinary exchanges among global thought-leaders aiming to influence key policy and research agendas.
© Abbas / Magnum Photos
by Rhodri Williams, Senior Legal Expert, International Legal Assistance Consortium (ILAC)
This Spring, for the third year running, the International Legal Assistance Consortium(ILAC) will be participating in the SIPRI Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development. ILAC is a consortium of 50 rule of law organizations worldwide, many of which participate in ILAC assessments and capacity-building work with justice sector actors in conflict-affected and fragile countries. The theme of this year’s Forum, on the “Politics of Peace” reflects both opportunities and challenges for rule of law actors seeking to contribute to broader efforts to end conflict and support sustainable development. [Read more…]
International Legal Assistance Consortium
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