The access to justice gap remains one of the most daunting challenges facing the justice and development sector and, amidst a global pandemic, is getting worse. One year ago, the World Justice Forum 2019 convened hundreds of justice actors to share best practices and collaborate on strategies to close the justice gap by 2030, as promised under the Sustainable Development Goals. The Forum concluded with the announcement of five winners of the 2019 World Justice Challenge: Access to Justice Solutions competition. To mark the occasion, WJP caught up with each project to learn how their work has evolved over the past year, as recounted in this blog series. 

Speakers will include Shreya Sen, Senior Program Officer, Nazdeek (India); Tripti Poddar, Legal Officer, Nazdeek (India); Fiona Sampson, CEO, The Equality Effect (Canada); Sandra Lynn Babcock, Faculty Director, Cornell Centre on the Death Penalty Worldwide (United States); Chimwemwe Chithope-mwale, Chief Legal Advocate and Head of the Zomba Legal Aid Office, Malawi Legal Aid Bureau (Malawi); Carolina Piwowarczyk Reis, Lawyer, Protection and Land Rights Component, Instituto Socioambiental (Brazil); Ana de Francesco, Anthropologist, Protection and Land Rights Component, Instituto Socioambiental (Brazil); and Joel Martinez, Director of Engagement, World Justice Project.

Learn more about the webinar 
 

Christof Heyns: The Right of Peaceful Assembly
WJP Rule of Law Talk Podcast
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Just released on Rule of Law Talk: WJP Executive Director Elizabeth Andersen is joined by Christof Heyns, Professor of Human Rights Law at the University of Pretoria and member of the United Nations Human Rights Committee, to discuss the right of peaceful assembly.

A new General Comment issued this week by the United Nations Human Rights Committee provides guidance on this topic at a critical moment, with protest movements on the rise across the globe, and many countries grappling with the appropriate response—something that has become even more complicated with the COVID-19 pandemic and public health restrictions on large gatherings.

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WJP Founder and CEO Bill Neukom Receives 2020 ABA Medal
WJP News
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Many congratulations to Bill Neukom, WJP's founder and CEO, on being awarded the ABA Medal, the American Bar Association's highest honor. Neukom accepted the medal yesterday during the association's 2020 Virtual Annual Meeting (watch his acceptance here). The award recognizes exceptionally distinguished service by a lawyer or lawyers to a cause of American jurisprudence. 

"The rule of law is the very foundation of communities of justice, opportunity, and peace," he emphasized during his remarks. 

"Bill exemplifies the ideal that the ABA Medal should be awarded to someone who has exhibited broad leadership in one's community, in public service, to the practice of law, and in legal research. His vision to begin the World Justice Project in the ABA and to spin it out into a freestanding NGO in 2009 was unprecedented," said William C. Hubbard, WJP Board Chair, in earlier remarks. "Today, the WJP's efforts to build knowledge, generate awareness, and stimulate action to advance the rule of law has resulted in reforms and greater access to justice around the world. This global impact is directly attributable to the visionary and sustained leadership of Bill Neukom."