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Key Text Comprehensive Legal and Judicial Development: Toward an Agenda for a Just and Equitable Society in the 21st Century

Author: R V Van Puymbroeck
Date: 2000
Size: 447 pages

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Summary

Justice, law and human rights are fundamental prerequisites for economic and social development. What are the elements for a successful legal and judicial system? How can the poor be given a voice for justice? These and other questions of universal concern are addressed in this book, which presents a selection of papers discussed at a global conference on comprehensive legal and judicial development sponsored by the World Bank in June 2000, in partnership with the International Monetary Fund, United Nations Development Programme and various development banks. The symposium united practitioners and experts in legal and judicial development, including judges, government officials, academics, aid experts and NGO representatives from 80 countries. The papers represent a wide cross-section of experiences and possible solutions that can be applied and adapted according to the needs and circumstances of individual countries.

Increasingly there are areas of globalised legislation: Regarding exchanges of individuals, goods, services and capital, and also cross-border criminal activity. The following points regarding the role of justice in global and specific contexts emerged from the conference:

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides basic guiding principles for all legal and judicial systems
Going to court is rarely the preferred method of resolving disputes. A comprehensive understanding of law includes a wider analysis of dispute resolution and of strategies that use trust (personal and calculative)
Securing a voice for the weakest members of society is a fundamental part of a rule of law framework. Justice must arm the weak with the possibility of winning against the strong, even against the state itself
Accountability in the supervision of government and administration is very important. In many areas of the world there has been a great loss of public trust in the judiciary
There is a tendency to base legal systems around the US model. This may provide a good reference but can be restrictive and overcomplicated to apply elsewhere
Legal training improves participation in legal reform programmes at grassroots and expert levels.

The following are some of the recommendations that emerge from the conference papers:

Tribunals need to be brought closer to the people (courts should be decentralised and be made accessible to all)
Mechanisms for interfacing existing laws and institutions with local community initiatives are vital (integrating community-based systems, empowering poor people, NGO or government interventions, providing education)
A network of accountability mechanisms (independent and effective court systems, ombudsman systems, parliamentary committees) should be created gradually in each democratic state
Combating corruption requires the establishment of a special international network to address crimes of corruption as well as stressing the role of civil society
Judiciaries must be independent (able to resist all forms of pressure) and accountable (in public and private conduct). Constitutional laws should ensure this and a ‘judicial ethos’ encouraged
Legal systems must be transparent and welcoming of media scrutiny. Journalists and media workers would benefit from legal training and expertise.

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Source: Van Puymbroeck, Rudolf V. (2001), 'Comprehensive Legal and Judicial Development: Toward an Agenda for a Just and Equitable Society in the 21st Century', proceedings of a global conference, World Bank, Washington, D.C., June 5-7, 2000
Organisation: The World Bank, http://www.worldbank.org