Legal Empowerment
Rights mean little if those entitled to them are not aware they exist. Due process is of doubtful value when you are illiterate, or unable to understand the proceedings. Courts are next to worthless for those who cannot afford the bus fare to reach them. Nor should justice be about courts alone. For all these reasons, legal empowerment is crucial. Part of IDLO's bottom-up (or demand side) approach, it involves equipping people with the knowledge, confidence and skills to realize their rights. Even as we work to improve the functioning of justice systems, we strengthen citizens' capacity to press for justice from below.
The rule of law only exists to the extent that it works for all.
Latin America: Sharing Best Practices for Access to Justice
Experts from nine countries have gathered in Lima, Peru to create a regional access-to-justice model for vulnerable groups. Held over the three days to May 28, the meeting is the first step in a process facilitated by IDLO under the EU-sponsored EUROsociAL II program.
Argentina: Youth Against Institutional Violence
In a recent interview with Spanish daily El País, star footballer Carlos Tévez confessed that, as a child growing up on the streets of the ominously-named Fuerte Apache estate just outside Buenos Aires, his biggest fear was to be detained by police.
Argentina Youth Tackle Institutional Violence
On 20 February 2014, in the Bruno Volta district of Santiago del Estero, Argentina, youths working for the local “Access to Justice Center” kicked off their own campaign against institutional violence, and in particular against the ill-treatment young people from impoverished backgrounds may suffer at the hands of the police.
City of God, City of Rights
Brazil: City of God, City of Rights
Languages: English, Português
Sembrando Derechos en Paraguay
La Ministra de Justicia de Paraguay, Sheila Abed, el Viceministro de Justicia Ever Martínez y el Director de Acceso a Justicia, Weldon Black Zaldívar, presenciaron el acto de presentación de los avances en la orientación y asistencia legal a personas en situación de vulnerabilidad, en el marco del Proyecto Servicio de Orientación Legal (SOL)<
Mundos Encontrados: Promoviendo la Justicia Intercultural en el Perú
Durante los días 6 y 7 de noviembre se presentaron en Lima, Perú, los resultados del proyecto de acceso a la justicia llevado a cabo en el país por IDLO con el apoyo del Programa EUROsociAL II de la Unión Europea.
Supporting Access to Justice in Afghanistan (SAJA)
While the justice sector in Afghanistan has progressed since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, legal awareness and access to justice throughout the country are still lagging behind. A 2016 World Justice Project report found that only 23 per cent of Afghan citizens used the formal justice system to settle disputes, and less than half reported to have trust in the state courts. As a result, and combined with the pressure of social norms, potential justice users, particularly women, are deterred from using the formal system and are often unable to obtain fair remedies for grievances
Vídeo de IDLO llega a barrios vulnerables de Buenos Aires
El sábado 4 de octubre de 2014, los jóvenes que colaboran con los Centros de Acceso a la Justicia de Buenos Aires capital, presentarán en el Barrio Carlos Mugica (Villa 31), el vídeo titulado “No te cuelgues”, producido en el marco de un proyecto de acceso al derecho ejecutado por IDLO en colaboración con el Ministerio de Justicia argentino y financiado por la Unión Europea a través del Program
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Key Initiatives
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Following the Tunisian revolution of 2011, the new Constitution adopted in 2014 aimed to embed the principle of equality between women and men as well as ensuring the State’s obligation to protect women’s rights. However, despite the reforms to the legal framework in Tunisia to increase protection for women against gender-based violence, justice sector professionals, particularly judges and bailiffs, have limited knowledge, skills and capacity to act as effective gender justice agents, as stipulated by the new Law. -
Sound legal and policy frameworks are key enablers in ensuring effective prevention, detection, and response to Public Health Emergencies of International Concern and other public health risks. The International Health Regulations, developed in 2005, is a legally binding instrument requiring States to develop core capacities for rapid detection of and response to public health emergencies such as COVID-19. -
IDLO is rolling out a program that aims to secure accessible, quality and sustainable justice services for citizens - particularly those living in rural, poor and other disadvantaged communities. The Community Justice Programme (CJP) supports both state and non-state legal aid, legal empowerment and other justice delivery interventions. -
In recent years, Jordan has taken steps and demonstrated political will to reform the justice sector and promote mediation and alternative dispute resolution as means not only to reduce court congestion and shorten the litigation process, but also to guarantee transparent and fair trials. Despite the use of mediation for several years, interest in mediation faded, and it is no longer perceived as a reliable mechanism for dispute resolution. There is therefore a strong need to re-establish mediation as an effective dispute resolution mechanism in the country. -
Since the revolution in 2011, Tunisia has experienced a period of significant political transition and change culminating in the adoption of a new constitution in 2014, which called for justice reform and protection of women’s rights. However, the practical application of the framework for legal assistance in Tunisia demonstrates the insufficiency of existing relevant mechanisms. Therefore, there is the strong need to empower women to access justice and claim their rights.
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 Policy Statements
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