Government

The Right to Information (RTI) or Freedom of Information (FoI) movement has made huge strides since the first FoI law was enacted in Sweden in 1766. Freedom of Information was included (as Article 19) in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, described by the UN General Assembly as “a fundamental Human Right and the touchstone of all the freedoms...” But it was not until the late 20th century that advocates of greater transparency really began to push for laws that guaranteed access to information.

One of the intended uses of the WJP Rule of Law Index is as an action planning tool for global civil society. The Rule of Law Index truly comes alive when citizens are given the opportunity to analyze information and shape implementation with their own aspirations and situational context.

With the country’s hopes pinned upon presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for July, the arrest of prominent human rights lawyer and activist Beatrice Mtetwa the day of a sweeping referendum on a new constitution has Zimbabwe’s promising present looking more and more like Robert Mugabe ten years ago.

The Justice Rising Blog aims to highlight grassroots projects that are striving to advance the rule of law. If you would like to highlight your project or organization, send us an email at [email protected]! Name Of Organization: East-West Management Institute, funded by USAID Project Title:  Program on Rights and Justice in Cambodia II (PRAJ II) Project Location:  Cambodia

On March 4, 2013 Kenyans will go to the polls to elect their 4th president. Incumbent president, Mwai Kibaki, is term-limited and will not be on the ballot. The contest will be between two main political coalitions, The Jubilee Alliance and The Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD). Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Prime Minister Raila Odinga head the two alliances, respectively.

On February 24th and 25th Italian parliamentary elections will be held. The electoral system in place is referred to in Italy as the “Calderoli law”, approved in 2005 and already used in the 2006 and 2008. Both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate are elected with a proportional system with a majority premium. The two systems however are not identical.

“The clearest way to show what the rule of law means to us in everyday life is to recall what has happened when there is no rule of law.” - Dwight D. Eisenhower

With many people in low income countries denied the right to be heard, access to justice and equality under the law - fundamental and constitutional rights - it is not surprising to see individuals from affected communities taking matters into their own hands. In my country, Malawi, weak, unaccountable, and unresponsive legal institutions have led to groups of people standing up to protect what belongs to them.

There are important evidence-based studies that have shown, not least through the work of BRAC and Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, that by investing in and focusing on women as the centre of development interventions we achieve multi-layered levels of progress which rapidly spread from the household to the community and to the State level. These are also the interventions which have the most long lasting impact. When a woman is helped to recognize her own agency, and when her own justice seeking behavior increases, the behavior of the whole household changes.

Spending time on the ground in countries like Liberia and Nepal, it soon becomes clear that despite good intentions, we still have very little idea how best to support the accountability of power-holders to citizens. There are hundreds of organizations working on corruption, transparency and accountability (words which are themselves confused and used inter-changeably); but the combined effect of these efforts is still much less than the sum of its parts.

Most Americans, if asked, would rank the United States at the top of any scale measuring rule of law compliance. This assumption is squarely challenged by the World Justice Project’s (WJP) recent rule of law index rankings for 2012: here the US fares well overall, but disturbingly low in critical areas of securing fundamental human rights, including worker rights.  

Last Friday marked the second anniversary of Egypt’s January 25th revolution, which toppled former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Yet the weekend’s celebration has been marred by five straight days of clashes between opposition protesters and security forces.

In large parts of the world, indigenous courts, councils of elders, and similar traditional authorities play a central role in the resolution of disputes. Despite all cultural differences, they share common features. Their relations with the state justice institutions are in many cases problematic, especially when they are not formally recognised. Nevertheless, they are perceived as legitimate institutions by local populations.