International Legal Assistance Consortium
Rebuilding Justice Systems
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…]
ILAC launched today the Discussion Paper on Judges as Peacebuilders: How Justice Sector Reform Can Support Prevention in Transitional Settings.
The first-of-its-kind Paper identifies key lessons showing the critical need in supporting judges as peacebuilders. Although justice systems in transitional settings are frequently badly weakened and tainted by allegations of corruption or complicity in human rights abuses, rebuilding their ability to dispense justice and regaining public trust in their integrity is indispensable to peacebuilding efforts. [Read more…]
Richard Sannerholm, ILAC´s Director of Assessments and Legal Analysis
ILAC is delighted to announce Richard Sannerholm as our new Director for Assessments and Legal Analysis.
For the past fifteen years Richard has worked and conducted research in the field of Rule of Law assistance in conflict and post-conflict settings. Richard has focused particularly on developing and implementing assessment and self-evaluation tools in the area of governance and Rule of Law. [Read more…]
ILAC experts and members of the regional administrative chamber of Sousse meet during the mission
ILAC is delighted to announce Guro Wiik as our new Syria Programme Manager. Guro brings to ILAC over ten years’ experience in international development, both from conflict and post-conflict settings. Throughout her career, Guro has had a particular focus on management of programmes on women’s rights and gender equality.
Guro joins ILAC from the United Nations Entity for Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality (UN Women) Headquarters in New York, where she most recently held the position as Programme Specialist in the Programme Division. [Read more…]
The International Legal Assistance Consortium (ILAC), established in 2002, is a Stockholm-based association for legal practitioners and scholars from around the world who offer expert guidance to countries to rebuild justice systems after conflict. It is in these challenging contexts where through better planning, coordination, and cooperation technical assistance can be more productive, sustainable, and cost efficient. Through its fifty member organisations, ILAC represents over 3 million legal professionals – judges, lawyers, prosecutors, and court administrators – worldwide.
The Principals of the ICC received the Stockholm Human Rights Award from HM King Carl XVI Gustaf. Photo: Tom Knutson
The International Criminal Court (ICC) received the 2017 Stockholm Human Rights Award recognising the institution’s outstanding contribution to the rule of law and human rights at a ceremony this week.
The Principals of the ICC – President Silvia Fernández de Gurmendi, Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, and Registeur Herman von Hebel –accepted the Award collectively from His Majesty the King of Sweden Carl XVI Gustaf.
Bosnian and Syrian legal professionals together for workshop about missing persons and property rights
Legal professionals from Syrian and Bosnia and Herzegovina are assembled for a workshop on land issues and missing persons which started last week in Sarajevo. Co-organised by ILAC, this exchange brings together justice sector peers from two countries involved in similar conflicts .
Bosnian legal professionals will share lessons related to the role of the justice system in their peacebuilding process. This project offers Syrian judges and lawyers tools to consider which experiences could apply and work in their context and which ones would have to be addressed differently. [Read more…]
The Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström recently appointed ILAC´s Executive Director, Agneta Johansson as one of fifteen inspiring women comprising the Swedish Women´s Mediation Network in recognition of her work in peacebuilding and rule of law.
I am very honoured to have been invited to contribute to the important work of the Women’s Mediation Network. The rule of law is a key component of sustainable peace and must be considered when determining what to include at each step of peace negotiations, says Ms. Johansson.
Chatham House seminar on The Syrian Justice System
ILAC and Chatham House held a seminar based on ILAC’s 2017 Syria Rule of Law Assessment at Chatham House in London last Wednesday. The panel discussed non-state courts in Syria and their role in areas outside the Syrian government’s control.
Drawing on the assessment findings, ILAC´s Legal Adviser and report writer Mikael Ekman offered an outline of the judicial bodies across Syria and how they differ from the government justice system.
No effort to build rule of law starts from zero,” said Ekman. “ILAC´s Syria report is an attempt to show what is there in terms of justice sector institutions in all parts of Syria. This is where the reconstruction of Syria will start, irrespective of what a future peace will look like.
Experts team having meeting in Guatemala
ILAC completed a rule of law and justice sector assessment mission in Guatemala on Friday, 20 October 2017. Our team, composed of 8 experts, investigated ongoing efforts to strengthen the rule of law in Guatemala to provide a reliable roadmap for more effective ways forward.
ILAC’s mission comes at a critical moment in Guatemala’s history, when corruption and impunity continue to pose serious challenges despite sustained efforts to reform the judicial system. [Read more…]
ILAC is delighted to welcome the The Siracusa Institute as a new member organisation.
Based in Italy, The Siracusa Institute has been working to contribute to international peace and security through the effective implementation of criminal law and criminal justice, and to promote the rule of law and the protection of human rights in criminal justice systems worldwide.
ILAC’s 2017 Annual General Meeting in Tokyo voted unanimously in favour of the Institute joining our Consortium. [Read more…]
ILAC is delighted to announce Shane Quinn as our new Director of Programmes starting today.
Shane Quinn, ILAC Director of Programmes
Shane brings to ILAC over 14 years’ experience in rule of law development, public sector governance reform and peacebuilding. He has worked in several international civil society organisations in Sweden and as a consultant in Eastern Europe and Africa.
While in Kenya, Shane managed a peacebuilding programme with civil society partners in conflict analysis and establishing platforms for non-state actors linked to the ongoing peace process in Somalia. Most recently, he co-developed a toolkit in Rule of Law in Public Administration for the UNDP and Folke Bernadotte Academy, where he was the acting Head of Rule of Law Programme. [Read more…]
Prof. Cherif Bassiouni as a United Nations expert on human rights in Afghanistan. Photo: Wikipedia
It is with great sadness that members of ILAC learn of the death of Professor Cherif Bassiouni, who died peacefully at home on 25 September 2017.
Cherif Bassiouni played an influential role in a series of seminars in the late ‘90s that discussed the setting up of ILAC. He was at that time the immensely respected Professor of Law at the DePaul University College of Law.
But he was much more than a legal academic, having served with distinction on a number of United Nations Commissions, notably chairing the Commission of Experts charged with investigating violations of Humanitarian Law in former Yugoslavia, which led to the setting up of the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Cherif went on to chair various UN Committees that brought into being the International Criminal Court. More recently he led the Bahrain International Commission of Inquiry and the UN Commission of Inquiry for Libya. [Read more…]
Mr Mohamed Tahar Hamdi receives a present from ILAC´s Field Coordinator in Tunisia, Ismaël Benkhalifa.
ILAC offered Mr Mohamed Tahar Hamdi a present in sign of appreciation for his efforts to facilitate the Consortium´s Tunisia Programme. Mr Hamdi is now retiring from his position as Director General of the Judicial Training Institute (ISM). Established in 1985, the Institute provides initial training for judicial auditors and in-service training of magistrates. [Read more…]
General Assembly Meeting Room, United Nations Headquarters in New York, USA.
ILAC will send a high-level delegation to attend the 72nd Session in the United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters in New York starting today. ILAC’s delegation has been invited to join the g7+ to discuss “Accelerating Progress toward SDG 16 – Vision of Access to Justice for All in Conflict Affected Countries,” an event organised by the Permanent Mission of Sierra Leone, Chair of g7+, Timor-Leste, and the g7+ Secretariat.
The General Assembly side-event will provide an opportunity for the g7+ ministers of justice to share their views on addressing priority needs and challenges for the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 16.
The Principals of the International Criminal Court, Registrar Herman von Hebel, President, Judge Silvia Fernández de Gurmendi and Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda. Photo: Micke Lundström
Stockholm, Sweden
ILAC congratulates the International Criminal Court (ICC) for its nomination to receive the 2017 Stockholm Human Rights Award. The prize will recognize the ICC´s work advancing international justice and strengthening respect for human rights.
The International Legal Assistance Consortium, the Swedish Bar Association and the International Bar Association bestow the Stockholm Human Rights Award annually to a person or organisation for outstanding services in the support of human rights and the rule of law. [Read more…]
Photo courtesy of: DAV/ Andreas Burkhardt
ILAC continued the public launch of our 2017 Syria Rule of Law Assessment report this month with an event in Berlin hosted by the German Bar Association.
ILAC’s Rule of Law Assessment Report, Syria 2017 provides a baseline for future reconciliation efforts with a comprehensive, publicly available account of the current state of the Syrian justice sector.
The July 14th event featured ILAC’s Executive Director, Agneta Johansson, as well as Stefan von Raumer, lawyer and member of the German Bar Association’s Human Rights Committee. Both were experts on ILAC’s Syria assessment mission.
Let me begin by saying that, based on my involvement in establishing ILAC’s gender justice initiative with the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), I feel that it is a laudable example of how consensus between two entities on an idea and strategy, rapid buy-in by management, dedicated counterparts on each side, broad outreach, and sustained donor funding can lead to an effective partnership for undertaking targeted activities. To put this observation in context, I will elaborate on how this initiative was conceived and evolved, which Agneta Johannson and Christian Ahlund know well as the lead ILAC counterparts. [Read more…]
ILAC is delighted to welcome Nina Lahoud to ILAC’s Board of Directors. A longtime supporter and ILAC member, Nina will bring over three decades of expertise from the peacekeeping and legal development world, involving numerous United Nations assignments in conflict-affected countries, to our management team.
After leaving the law firm of Shearman & Sterling in 1983 to join the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon/UNIFIL (as the first woman Legal Adviser appointed to a mission), Nina served with the United Nations for over 33 years where she dealt extensively with legal, rule of law, peacekeeping, development and gender matters while serving in various offices at UN Headquarters and in six UN peacekeeping operations deployed in Lebanon, Namibia, Cambodia, Croatia, Kosovo and East Timor at critical historic junctures. [Read more…]
ILAC co-organised a five-day intensive course on UN human rights and security mechanisms for Syrian legal professionals in Geneva this Spring.
As part of ILAC’s larger Syria Programme, the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute led trainings in Geneva that will sharpen the skills of Syrian legal professionals to help shape resolutions and recommendations on the Syrian crisis in line with international law and UN principles. [Read more…]
Nearly 3 million people have fled to Turkey because of seven years of war in Syria. Among the refugees are hundreds of legal professionals with valuable knowledge of the Syrian justice system who will be key in strengthening the rule of law and bringing stability to a post-conflict Syria. [Read more…]
2017 Stockholm Forum opening session © Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
For the second year running, ILAC partnered with the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) to contribute to the annual Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development. The Stockholm Forum is [Read more…]
International Legal Assistance Consortium
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122 62 Enskede, Sweden
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