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The World Justice Project, an independent organization working to advance the rule of law worldwide, opens the World Justice Forum IV - a global gathering designed to engage nearly 600 leaders, dignitaries, and innovators from more than 120 countries

The World Justice Project today opened the World Justice Forum IV – a global gathering designed to engage nearly 600 leaders, dignitaries, and innovators from more than 120 countries to address critical rule of law issues related to economic development, technology, supply chains, women’s rights, freedom of expression, and more.

A look around the world the world at the latest rule of law events in July.  1- 3 July: Lebanon to hold parliament session. The 17-month extension of the parliament mandate was mainly caused by the lawmakers’ failure to reach a new electoral law. Click here to find out more.

The quality of justice, many insist, cannot be measured by an index or an indicator. True enough, at least of justice in the aggregate, or justice with a capital J, but not necessarily of its component parts; and it is on those component parts of justice that reformers must work. In each individual country, province, and city, reformers must strengthen the rule of law one part at a time.

Rape and sexual abuse is a threat that hangs over women wherever they live in the world. But in some countries that threat is more terrible because that violence is much more likely to occur. It takes a lot of work and much courage to try to change the culture that breeds it, to educate people to understand that sexual violence in all its forms is abhorrent, and that these atrocities must be prevented at all costs. The High Court of Kenya has recently taken such an admirable step. 

This paper offers one practitioner’s perspective on the origins, evolution and possible direction of legal empowerment (LE), which in some ways is a new field and in others is a continuation of many kinds of efforts linked by certain common elements.

On May 30, a 27 member of a High Panel co-chaired by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, and Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom released a report, “A new global partnership: eradicate poverty and transform economies through sustainable development.” This report has set out a universal agenda to eradicate extreme poverty from the Earth by 2030, and deliver on the promise of sustainable development. 

A look around the world at the latest rule of law events in June

On April 24th, 2013, Bangladesh faced its worst industrial disaster. An eight-story garment factory collapsed, resulting in the loss of more than 1100 lives. A few days after the incident, Christian Amanpour of CNN interviewed the Bangladeshi Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, where she responded to the crisis by saying “Anywhere in the world, accidents can happen.

As the most populous city in Eastern Africa, Nairobi, Kenya has many of the problems of any large city (crime, substandard housing, poverty, etc.), and is also at the center of a nation divided by ethnic strife and a vast disparity between those that have much and those that have very little.  These issues came to a head with the Presidential elections in December 2007, which led to large-scale conflict, including between protesters and police.  The violence was most acute in the poorest neighborhoods of Nairobi, including the slums of Kibera, Mathare and Babandogo.

While gender equality is enshrined in the 1948 UN Declaration of Human Rights, in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and in legislation in most countries, women’s conditions of participation in markets and their rewards from that participation, still remain woefully unequal to men’s.  

When deciding how to produce a film about Zimbabwe several themes ran through my head. Some themes appeared to be narratives with a compelling storyline. But conferring with two colleagues who helped developed the film, I soon began a process of elimination on what could work. I was intrigued when the rule of law was suggested as the prism in which to tell the story of the country. But also initially confused.

What are the changes that happened in the past 50 years that West Papua has been ruled by Indonesia?  Why do I reflect on my personal journey and write this? Because this has been the reality of the lives of the Papuan people under the Indonesian military system  since the 1st of May, 1963 and since the so called Act of Free Choice in 1969 when West Papua through military and political pressure was unjustly integrated into Indonesia. We [West Papuans] have maintained our dignity in the face of oppression, insult and prejudice.

A look around the world at the latest rule of law events in May. World Press Freedom Day: May 3rd Stay tuned for our latest Index Data Spotlight dedicated to Freedom of Speech. For more information on the newly launched Index Data Spotlight, please click here. 

As we reflect on labor rights and workers during the month of May, pause and consider what the working world looks like to someone who cannot see, or hear, or move easily from place to place. Justice Rising contributor Stephanie Ortoleva was recently at the Pacific Rim International Conference on Disability and Diversity in Hawaii, where she delivered this excellent keynote on the obstacles facing women with disabilities in both education and employment as they enter the STEM fields.

Malawi is a multiparty democracy with a population of approximately 15 million. In April, 2012 Joyce Banda took over through a smooth transition as President in what local and international observers characterized as a sign that Malawi respects the Rule of Law. Her Government inherited serious challenges ranging from economic hardships, bad governance and donor fatigue.

We are delighted to announce the twelve winners of our 2013 World Justice Challege competition! The WJC is an initiative designed to incubate practical programs that strengthen the rule of law. Seed-grants ranging from $10,000-$30,000 are given to individuals, organizations, or networks with the best actionable ideas.

Red light ticket cameras at intersections are becoming more prevalent with the technological innovations like enhanced imaging making traffic cams less prone to errors. The reasons many municipalities cite for using such technology is the perceived reduction in traffic accidents and fatalities at high-risk intersections.  However, these cameras are also coming under increased scrutiny due to a variety of other factors such as: