Action Committee on LinkedIn: 2023 Progress on Canada's Justice Development Goals (2024)

The "rule of law" is a political ideal that all citizens and institutions are accountable to the same laws, which are fair, transparent, and nonarbitrary, preventing the abuse of power and protecting the rights and freedoms of the people. The current global rule of law recession started in 2016 and between 2022-2023, it was further reduced in 82 countries. USAID recently announced their commitment to a new approach to advancing the rule of law, turning traditional assistance to justice institutions on its head, embracing a people-centered justice approach that prioritizes meeting people’s needs over those of justice ministries, courts, and bar associations. 413 is keen to apply this approach across our USG work, leveraging the fantastic tools and frameworks out there. #peoplecenteredjustice#ruleoflaw#globaljustice

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What do citizens want from the government? This is a crucial question in times of extremely tense citizen-government relationships.Surprisingly, little is known about the #values citizens expect their public servants to uphold. We, therefore, conducted large-scale surveys to determine the values citizens desire from their civil servants in the United States, South Korea, and the Netherlands.We did not expect it, but citizens hardly value #effectiveness, #efficiency, or #accountability from the government.In contrast, we found that the top three universal values that citizens desire from public servants are:▶Serviceability: Provide proper services to citizens.▶Responsiveness: Address the citizens' requests quickly ▶Dedication: Do your job correctly and with care. These results challenge scholars and government officials to reassess what citizens want from their public servants. It is time to focus on serviceability, responsiveness, and dedication. Only then can government become a force for good in the eyes of the people.Check out the article in Public Administration Review (PAR) 👇.With Sheeling Neo (梁诗琳) Stephan Grimmelikhuijsen NWO (Dutch Research Council). Jeremy Hall. Thanks for inspiring us Noortje de Boer Morten Hjortskov Larsen Oliver James Peter Kruyen Asmus Leth Olsen Stephen Osborne Nadine Raaphorst Jacob Torfing Lotte Bøgh Andersen Robin Bouwman Rens van de Schoot Steven Van de Walle Prof.dr. Zeger van der Wal Caspar Van Den Berg Gregg Van Ryzin Jurgen Willems Kutsal Yesilkagit. We cite your work.

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Conflict Transformation and Transitional Justice: lessons learned and practicesLessons Learned:1. **Comprehensive Approach:** Addressing the root causes of conflict requires a multifaceted approach that goes beyond mere cessation of hostilities. This involves addressing socio-economic inequalities, political grievances, and historical injustices.2. **Inclusivity:** Involving all relevant stakeholders, including victims, perpetrators, and marginalized groups, is crucial for ensuring legitimacy and effectiveness in both conflict transformation and transitional justice processes.3. **Long-Term Perspective:** Sustainable peace and justice require long-term commitment and engagement. Quick-fix solutions often fail to address deep-seated grievances and may lead to renewed violence.4. **Contextual Sensitivity:** Strategies and interventions must be tailored to the specific context of the conflict, taking into account cultural, historical, and social dynamics.5. **Transitional Justice as a Process:** Transitional justice is not just about legal mechanisms such as trials and tribunals; it encompasses a range of measures, including truth commissions, reparations, and institutional reforms, aimed at addressing past atrocities and promoting reconciliation.### Practices:1. **Truth and Reconciliation Commissions:** Establishing truth commissions can help uncover past atrocities, provide a platform for victims to share their stories, and promote national reconciliation.2. **Reparations Programs:** Implementing reparations programs can provide tangible support to victims, acknowledge their suffering, and contribute to their healing and rehabilitation.3. **Justice Mechanisms:** Implementing hybrid or internationalized justice mechanisms, such as international tribunals or hybrid courts, can help ensure accountability for serious crimes while building national judicial capacity.4. **Community-Based Approaches:** Engaging local communities in reconciliation processes through dialogue, mediation, and community-based justice mechanisms can help address grassroots grievances and foster social cohesion.5. **Transitional Institutions:** Establishing transitional institutions, such as truth and reconciliation bodies or special prosecutors' offices, can help manage the transition from conflict to peace and justice.By incorporating these lessons learned and implementing best practices, stakeholders can work towards sustainable peace, reconciliation, and justice in post-conflict societies.

What does Truth and Reconciliation mean for us?We acknowledge the historical and on-going failure to protect the lives, values, and culture of the Indigenous Peoples of Canada. We seek to reconcile the differing values of the Canadian criminal justice system with those of the Indigenous Peoples of Canada. Our aim is to build a just relationship that addresses both the over-representation of Indigenous Peoples within the criminal justice system and the high rates of violence against Indigenous Peoples, particularly Indigenous women and girls.See this Value in actionThe PPSC Deskbook sets out the guiding principles which all federal prosecutors must follow. In 2021, the PPSC’s National Prosecution Policy Committee started a review of the policies and practices that may contribute to discrimination, systemic racism, or over-representation within the criminal justice system. As part of this review, the PPSC’s Indigenous Justice and Reconciliation Committee, whose mandate is to consider the PPSCprosecutorial policies and practices that impact Indigenous communities and Indigenous persons provided feedback on several chapters, including the Guideline 2.3 – Decision to Prosecute.Want to learn more? 2.3 Decision to Prosecute - PPSC (ppsc-sppc.gc.ca)#PPSCValues

🌐 On 14th May, we organised the "Making People-Centred Justice Happen to Strengthen Democracy and Prosperity: Ensuring Impact and Implementation," a side event of the 33rd Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice(#CCPCJ).⚖ Inthe event, we were delighted to engage in discussions with esteemed panelists from #Malta, #Portugal, #Thailand, Terre des hommes foundation, and UNDP on ongoing efforts and successful stories, sharing insights on people-centred justice and various topics in the justice sector, including justice measurement, justice for children, and the usage of data in the justice sector.🌟 Here are some key takeaways from the event:🔸 Systematic capacity-building and adequate staffing of justice sector institutions along with strategically planned government initiatives are critical to the effective delivery of justice services.🔸 A whole-of-government approach is key for planning and implementing cohesive reforms and ensuring that institutional boundaries do not limit justice.🔸 Distinctive needs of marginalised groups must be factored into policymaking to secure equitable access to justice for the most vulnerable members of the society.🔸 The collection of both quantitative and qualitative data is crucial for understanding and responding to the needs of marginalised groups.🔸 Significant financial investments are indispensable for capacitating justice system institutions to implement people-centred legal and technical solutions.🔸 Ensuring access to justice in fragile settings and countries with weak rule of law guarantees is particularly challenging and necessitates organising legal aid and awareness-raising initiatives.A huge thanks to all the panelists and participants who joined the event and made it a success. 🙌 We look forward to meeting you at our next events!

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Alberta's equivalent of a small claims court increased its monetary limit to $100,000. Good. Ontario should do the same. There is nothing less viable than a $40,000-$100,000 claim.Ontario should also revamp the Rules of Civil Procedure for $100,000+ claims and, while they're at it, $1 million+ claims. I know a revamp is already under consideration. My first suggestion: more judges and associate judges. Not sure if the money and political will exist to make that happen.My second suggestion: overhaul the discovery process. If multi-million dollar arbitrations can be fairly decided without laborious document production, hours/days of discovery and the ever-present threat of a refusal motions, so can civil court claims. Granted, the arbitral discovery process can also get cumbersome but, in my experience, it is often faster and more targeted than the court process. Oh, and it's more fair too. Why? Because the dispute gets resolved faster and cheaper.#civillitigation #law #arbitration

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Are you an Albertan, aged 18 or older, who identifies as a person with sight loss, or have a connection to the sight loss community? This Invitation might be for you!Know Your Rights – Focus Group Call to Action This year, CNIB was awarded a grant by the Alberta Law Foundation to develop plain language resources that will provide easy to understand, practical information about important legal topics to CNIB clients, staff, volunteers, and community members.  We are seeking your input on what legal issues should be prioritized as part of the Know Your Rights – Alberta Project.  The documents we create will help blind and low vision Alberta residents better understand:  Common legal issues they face How to get support and navigate the legal system  How to advocate for themselves to challenge discrimination This content will be organized into relatable and practical categories, e.g. education, employment, transportation, etc. and will be similar to the resources that were developed during the pilot Know Your Rights - Ontario Project. To learn more about the Ontario pilot project, visit: https://lnkd.in/gcRkEXyK  Join us in this collaborative effort by participating in our upcoming focus groups, conducted over Zoom on the following dates:February 29th, 6:00 – 8:00 pm MDTMarch 7th, 6:00 – 8:00 pm MDT March 14th, 1:00 – 3:00 pm MDT To be eligible, please ensure you meet the following criteria:Age 18 or olderAlberta residentIdentify as a person with sight loss or have a connection to the sight loss community Secure your spot by reaching out to Taylor.Bauer@cnib.ca Your participation is integral to the success of this initiative. Together, we can create resources that make a meaningful impact on the lives of Albertans who are blind or partially sighted.Thank you for your consideration, and we look forward to your valuable insights.

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Here is some important research that supports the work we do at The Freedom Hub.Our Survivor School provides: ✔️ individual trauma-informed support and training that is structured to suit each survivors ‘success plans’. This often means one to one coaching and mentoring to help them achieve what they see as a successful life. ✔️long-term wholistic support for recovery and rebuilding their life. Learning to live with trauma, a deep level of broken trust and abuse takes many, many years. We do not ‘off board’ survivors. We support them as long as they need. Some are still with us since we started in 2013.✔️ we are survivor focussed not criminal justice focussed. We help a survivor focus’s on the future not the past. This is Survivor-informed evidence that redefines ‘recovery’ and its outcomes. Evidence shows that policies, research and interventions need to rethink ‘recovery’, and its outcomes for modern slavery survivors. Read it!Please note: we are privately funded so we can provide this survivor centred support. Government funding is currently cookie cutter and for a broken system that hasn’t worked. We hope this will change in the future but for now it is private donors and corporates who keep our Survivor Schools in each state running.Find out more about us. https://lnkd.in/g_iVwjvbSupport our work:thefreedomhub.org/donate

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You can take concrete action to support protecting the future of children in Canada today:https://lnkd.in/g58jbfgMA campaign led by the BC Association of Social Workers, presents to us one of the best chance in a long time to make corporal punishment of children illegal. The science is clear, especially while in a country with a living mosaic that lends to an inconsistent culture as it relates to parental practices across peers, it is best to ban this context-specific ill-adaptive practice. Put another way, this is a non-judgmental call to follow the science for the benefit and health of our collective futures, very much with specific consideration to the Canadian context.If nothing else, this is a great opportunity to get informed on a live topic of debate in the House of Commons.~In Community Health

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Today we’ve published a policy brief looking at survivor support, based on seven independent research projects that we funded. So, what have we learned from our research? Firstly, evidence shows that we need to rethink ‘recovery’, and its outcomes for modern slavery survivors. We need to recognise that recovery is a process that’s individual, non-linear, dependent on the wider context of people’s lives, that doesn’t fit within particular time frames. Secondly, evidence says we need long-term and holistic support if it is to be meaningful and impactful. Thirdly: the research projects identified a long list barriers to support, from uncertainty around entitlements and how to access them to more structural issues such as navigiatingimmigration or criminal justice processes, to practical barriers such as language or lack of funding.Fourthly wider systems have a big impact on survivors' wellbeing. From immigration limbo, to delays in NRM or having to retell their stories over and over and to have credibility challenged can leave a lasting impact. Read about all projects and the policy brief on our website:https://lnkd.in/duW6P4Mm

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