The Justice Action Coalition (JAC), a group comprised of over 30 countries and organizations seeking to advance equal access to justice for all, last week released a new report entitled, “Good Practices and Commitments on People-Centered Justice”. The report highlights the commitments and work of JAC members in furthering people-centered access to justice. Good practices and initiatives highlighted in the report include:

• Canada’s National Action Plan on Open Government (2022-2024) which includes pledges to share justice-related data, the use of plain language, and efforts to ensure access to justice for underrepresented and marginalized populations.
• Columbia’s Diferencia Foundationwhich opened Alternative Conflict Resolution Centers in Bogotá and Medellín, with two target populations: LGBTI peoples and indigenous communities. These centres advance legal empowerment and the peaceful resolution of conflicts for historically discriminated peoples in Columbia.  
• Portugal’s Justice Ministry has released a centralized, digital platform – RAL+ – that allows for alternative dispute resolution (ADR) case management. Using RAL+, Portuguese citizens can seek workplace mediation, request information, and monitor their cases. Justice professionals can track cases in real time and readily interact with parties and representatives.
• In 2023, Indonesia created a Paralegal Justice Academy, which trains village chiefs to be paralegals. In the months since it launched, 300 chiefs have been trained, aiding local dispute resolution across the country.
• The Solomon Islands’ Paralegalism Project trains and deploys paralegals to remote communities, educating community members on their rights and access to justice services. Since 2019, 25,441 people have been reached with this program.
• The United States’ USAID Program in 2023 launched a Rule of Law Innovation, Design Experimentation, Acceleration, and Solutions (IDEAS) Lab. The Lab supports access to justice initiatives across the globe – for instance, facilitating a local justice needs survey in Kyrgyzstan, and starting an online community justice house in Ukraine.
• Supported by the Dutch government, UNDP and UN Women have brought mobile legal aid services to Tanzania and Uganda, helping over 20,000 women and girls with claims related to land use, gender-based violence, marriage, and divorce.

You can read the full report in English here: https://cic.nyu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/JAC-Good-Practices-and-Commitments-on-People-Centered-Justice-June-2023.pdf.