The launch of the WJP in 2006 was co-sponsored by over 20 organizations that provide global leadership in a variety of disciplines. They include bar associations; chambers of commerce; associations for engineers, public health professionals, and educators; human rights organizations; and trade unions, among others.

The World Justice Project’s co-sponsoring organizations have contributed to the success of the World Justice Forum I and II, and they continue to engage with our international programs as we move forward. The list of our co-sponsoring organizations is expected to expand in the coming months, increasing our ability to represent different professional disciplines and world regions at future programs, especially the World Justice Forum III in 2011.

What does it take to become an institutional WJP co-sponsor? First, moral support of the WJP’s two founding premises: the rule of law is the foundation for communities of opportunity and equity, and multidisciplinary collaboration is the most effective way to advance the rule of law. Second, in-kind support in the forms of exchanging information and invitations for programs and events; comparing activity calendars and organizing joint programs; recommending speakers, panelists and participants; and promoting mutually beneficial programs through joint media outreach. Financial support is encouraged, but not required.

Our co-sponsoring organizations are recognized both on our website and in the program of the World Justice Forum. Representatives of our co-sponsoring organizations always receive priority invitations for the World Justice Forum and other WJP-hosted events.

I would like to take this opportunity to encourage you to consider your organization for possible WJP co-sponsorship. Your assistance in facilitating your organization becoming a new institutional co-sponsor would be greatly appreciated. The rule of law affects every profession and every community. We have work to do, together.

Sincerely,

The World Justice Project Releases WJP Rule of Law Index^TM 2010 Report

On October 14, 2010, The World Justice Project (WJP) launched the WJP Rule of Law Index^TM 2010 report at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Speakers included: Juan Botero, Rule of Law Index Director; William C. Hubbard, WJP Chairman of the Board of Directors; Brackett Denniston, III, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of GE; Ellen Gracie Northfleet, former Chief Justice of the Federal Supreme Court of Brazil and WJP Board Director (pictured below, from left to right). The Index, a new tool designed to measure countries’ adherence to the rule of law in practice, provides new data regarding a variety of dimensions of the rule of law. Read more

WJP Chairman William C. Hubbard Delivers Keynote Speech at U.S. Chamber of Commerce

On October 5, 2010, WJP Chairman of the Board of Directors William C. Hubbard delivered a keynote speech at the United States Chamber of Commerce during the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America’s (AACCLA) annual meeting in Washington, DC.
Read more

Mr. Hubbard introduced the WJP Rule of Law Index and its findings about Latin American countries. Specifically, he focused on three rule of law areas critical to the region: government accountability, security, and dispute resolution.

There were approximately 100 business leaders from Latin American countries in attendance, many of whom expressed keen interest in the WJP’s mission and programs.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is one of the WJP’s founding co-sponsoring organizations. The WJP will continue to reach out to our institutional co-sponsors in order to engage in shared efforts to mainstream the rule of law amongst diverse professions and communities.

Collapse



.

Asia Pacific Rule of Law Conference

The World Justice Project will host the Asia Pacific Rule of Law Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on January 26-28, 2011. The conference will convene 150 leaders from across the region and an array of professional disciplines.Read more

The primary objective of the conference is to develop concrete, multidisciplinary, community-level action plans that address rule of law issues critical to the region. The discussions at the conference will focus on three main themes: Building a Better Business-Enabling Environment; Mitigating Environmental Degradation; and Ensuring Basic Rights for Migrants and Refugees.

We are pleased to confirm several keynote speakers, including The Honorable Michael Kirby, former High Court Justice of Australia and co-winner of the 2010 Gruber Justice Prize; Lakshmi Venkatachalam, Vice President of the Asian Development Bank for Private Sector and Co-Financing Operations; Antonio Oposa, Jr., President of The Law of Nature Foundation and winner of the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award; and Param Cumaraswamy, former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers.

This conference is expected to identify best practices in rule of law advancement on key issues in the region, such as the rights of migrant laborers, access to safe water, and improving access to and enforcement of business regulations. It will incubate implementable programs that build on the region’s strategic advantages and generate multidisciplinary collaborations in advancing the rule of law. For more information, please visit the conference website at www.apac2011wjp.org.

Collapse



.

Access to Justice for Women: New Scholarship by the WJP

WJP Staff Attorney and Programs Manager Leila Hanafi and Rule of Law Index Program Associate Christine Pratt have developed a joint research paper entitled Morocco’s 2004 Family Code Moudawana: Improving Access to Justice for Women, to be published by Routledge as part of a volume entitled Women and Knowledge in the Mediterranean Region. Read more

The purpose of their research is to assess women’s access to justice through the lens of family law since the 2004 passage of Morocco’s reformed family code, the Moudawana.

Access to justice is a core dimension of the rule of law. The Moudawana regulates all matters pertaining to family life—the area of the legal system that most directly impacts women. Family law is the only area of law in Morocco that adheres to Islamic law. This scholarship strives to present and analyze the Moroccan case study of family law reform and provide a reference point for other MENA countries attempting to increase women’s rights and gender equality.

Collapse



.

The WJP and the Hague Journal on the Rule of Law Hosted a Joint Seminar

The WJP and the Hague Journal on the Rule of Law held a seminar on August 31, 2010. The primary goal of the seminar was to facilitate dialogue about the need for and the limitations of cross-country institutional indicators. The WJP engaged with other key actors in the field to advance knowledge on the shared objective of providing useful data to countries.Read more

Presentations at this meeting will lead to the publication of a special issue of the Hague Journal on the Rule of Law in 2011, which will be entirely dedicated to measurement of institutional indicators across countries.

Participants of the seminar included representatives from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre; Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government; the World Bank; the Vera Institute of Justice; Oxford University; Tilburg University; University of South Carolina; Global Integrity; American Bar Foundation; Brookings Institution; The Hague Institute for the Internationalization of Law (HiiL); and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Collapse



.

The Work Now Begins: The Latin America and the Caribbean Rule of Law Conference Successfully Concluded

Over 100 leaders representing 24 countries and 17 disciplines from Latin America and the Caribbean gathered in Lima, Peru, on September 8-10, 2010, to develop action plans to advance the rule of law. The WJP’s Latin America and the Caribbean Rule of Law Conference 2010 addressed several critical and timely regional rule of law issues—including Government Accountability; Public Security; and Balancing Economic Development and the Environment—through the WJP’s unique lens of multidisciplinary collaboration. Read more

As in other WJP mainstreaming meetings, conference participants came together in working sessions to develop innovative, multidisciplinary solutions to specific rule of law challenges affecting the region, including security, freedom of the press, community environmental compliance, and social entrepreneurship.

A special round of the WJP Opportunity Fund has been opened to offer seed grants to projects incubated at the conference. The proposed projects include: Promoting Entrepreneurship as a Career Option for At-Risk Youth in the Caribbean, Best Practices in Access to Justice, and Rape Accountability & Protection Project.

Conference panelists included José Miguel Vivanco, Director of the Americas Division of Human Rights Watch; Scott Fulton, General Counsel for the United States Environmental Protection Agency; and Emilio Colón, President of the World Council of Civil Engineers. The conference was covered by international media, including Agencia EFE, the world’s premiere Spanish language multimedia news agency, and the Peruvian newspaper El Comercio.

For more information and to see panel presentations, speaker biographies, pictures, and extended analysis of the conference, please visit www.lacc2010wjp.org.
Collapse



.

Middle East and North Africa Opportunity Fund

The World Justice Project has identified four outstanding multidisciplinary rule of law programs, spanning seven countries, to receive seed grants through the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regional round of the WJP Opportunity Fund. Each stemmed directly from action plans developed in working sessions at the MENA Rule of Law Conference, held on June 25-26, 2010 in Ifrane, Morocco. Read more

HIMA: Reviving Yesterday’s Community-Based Conservation Approach for the Sustainability of Tomorrow’s Generations
Organizations: The Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon (SPNL) and The United Nations University-Institute for Water, Environment, and Health (UNU-INWEH)

Doing Business in Iraq Guide
Organization: International Negotiation Institute

Pilot Youth Parliament in Jaffa: Providing a Model for Youth Civic Engagement and Awareness in MENA Countries
Organization: Arab Jewish Community Center (AJCC)

Multi-disciplinary Study and Advocacy Campaign on the Right to Access Information in Morocco
Organization: Association Al Farabi de la culture et d’art

Also, there were several action plan implementers who requested non-financial assistance from the WJP. For instance, the WJP will be working closely with the action plan leaders from the “Securing Rights for Migrant Communities” session in their efforts to launch an education campaign to teach MENA migrant communities about their rights and how to access them. The WJP is also collaborating with the Mapping of Emigration Research Centers on their project in the MENA region. To learn more about the WJP's Opportunity Fund and current projects, please visit www.worldjusticeproject.org/opportunity-fund/.

Collapse



.

Opportunity Fund Grantee Builds Capacity of Religious Leaders

On September 20-21, 2010, Religions for Peace (RfP), a coalition of religious leaders dedicated to promoting peace, held a workshop in New York City to build the faith community’s capacity to address legal empowerment of the poor and maternal and child health. The event was implemented with support from the WJP through RfP’s ongoing Opportunity Fund grant. Read more

Timed to coincide with the Summit on the Millennium Development Goals and the United Nations General Assembly, the workshop drew a diverse group of individuals representing six continents and all major faith communities. WJP Board Director and Vice President James R. Silkenat gave the workshop’s opening remarks. WJP Program Associate Steven Ross was also present as a participant.

At the conclusion of the program it was determined that faith leaders have a critical role in disseminating, protecting, and advancing the legal rights of the poor. The WJP will support RfP in its efforts to provide funding and technical support to a number of innovative projects, such as efforts to mobilize religious communities to advocate for access and equity in justice systems for people who have been denied their fundamental human rights.

Collapse



.

Leadership and Ethics Empowerment for Young Middle Eastern and North African Engineers

In celebration of the United Nations 2010 International Youth Year, the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO) Standing Committee on Anti-Corruption, with the support of the WJP, will hold a conference on December 15-18, 2010, in Tunis to train a select group of Middle Eastern and North African young engineers in rule of law, ethics, anti-corruption, and leadership.Read more

Young engineers interested in participating in this training should contact WFEO Standing Committee on Anti-Corruption at aghorbel@wfeo.org or www.surveymonkey.com/s/SCXC5SP.

Collapse



.

World Justice Forum III

Building on the success of two previous World Justice Forums, as well as regional outreach meetings in Africa, South America, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and North America, the World Justice Forum III will take place from June 20-23, 2011, in Barcelona, Spain. Read more

This Forum aspires to bring together over 450 world leaders from a breadth of professional disciplines to promote an interdisciplinary understanding of rule of law issues, strengthen global commitment to the rule of law, and develop concrete cross-disciplinary action plans at the community level.

The Forum will focus on the role of the law in meeting the world’s current economic, social, and environmental challenges in light of the increasing global inter-connectivity. The Forum will also serve as an educational and evaluative event, and an incubator for new and enhanced cross-disciplinary programs to advance the rule of law worldwide.

Collapse



.

Recent WJP Presentations

Presentations on the WJP Rule of Law Index were made to: the U.S. Department of State INL Anti-Crime Programs and Civilian Policing/Rule of Law Offices on August 12; the Institute for International Law and Justice, New York University School of Law on September 13-14; and the USAID Rule of Law Division on October 7, 2010.

Welcome to New WJP Staff!

The WJP is pleased to welcome new staff members Ana Victoria Cruz, Development and Communications Assistant; April Baskin, Executive Assistant; Rule of Law Index interns Juan Manuel Botero, Nathan Menon, and Claros Morean; and Xavier Muller, Program Intern.

Help Support Us

With the help of sponsors, funders, and individual contributors, the WJP is able to stimulate the fundamental change needed to make the rule of law stronger in our own society and around the world.

We welcome you to join our mission and support justice worldwide.

Acknowledgement of Appreciation to Recent Donors

As the WJP continues its most ambitious year to date, we would like to thank the following donors for their recent support: Merck & Co., Inc.; LexisNexis; the American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources; and the law firms Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP; Turner Freeman; SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan; and Cochingyan & Peralta. We welcome the support of new donors. Organizations or individuals wishing to support the WJP may contact Development Officer Sean K. O'Brien at (202) 407-9329 or obriens@wjpnet.org. Donations can also be made online at www.worldjusticeproject.org/support.

We welcome you to join our mission and support justice worldwide. The World Justice Project is a charitable organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, and all contributions are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law. You can donate online or with a check addressed to The World Justice Project.

---

Archives

Bulletin April - June 2010

Bulletin January - March 2010

Bulletin - 2009