Paraguay’s first ‘House of Justice’ has opened in the north-eastern department of Concepción -- the first step in a national effort to provide free legal services and easy-access dispute resolution to vulnerable communities.
Describing the program earlier this year, Deputy Justice Minister Ever Martínez said it aimed for “rights not to be confined to paper, and [for] state institutions to move closer to the most vulnerable sectors of society so that they can actually exercise their rights and see their quality of life improve”.
The program was the result of two years of collaboration between the Paraguayan Ministry of Justice and IDLO, based on a pilot experience in the Bañado Tacumbú neighborhood of the capital, Asunción. With funding from the EU’s EUROsociAL II Program, IDLO provided the expertise and technical support, as well as designing training programs and draft operating manuals.
Paraguay has been a member of IDLO since 2009.