ASF joins the Open Society Foundation, APCOF, PALU, and ACJR in a campaign to promote the decriminalisation and declassification of minor offences. Particularly affecting people in vulnerable situations, these laws and their application are both arbitrary and discriminatory. “Vagrancy”, “disorderly behaviour” or “idleness” remain valid grounds for arresting and imprisoning individuals, contributing to the endemic overcrowding of prisons throughout the world.

Victim participation is a central element in achieving justice and reconciliation in Uganda. The practice is allowed by the International Crimes Division (ICD) but efforts still have to be made by courts and the legislator to actualize its full use in court proceedings. This policy brief offers an analysis as well as a few recommandations regarding the situation of victim participation in Uganda. 

Access to justice is a serious problem in the Central African Republic. That is the key finding in a study Avocats sans Frontières has just published. Analysis of the situation on the ground has revealed difficulties in access to lawyers and to a state justice system of adequate quality. Those are the reasons why citizens avoid the formal state system, and instead, turn to local chiefs, religious leaders, non governmental organisations and others. ASF recommends that development agencies draft and implement robust strategies to achieve sustainable improvements. And for them to be successful, these strategies must include all the actors involved, both formal and informal.

Joining in the celebration of women across the world today, ASF releases its analysis of the progresses and shortcomings in achieving women’s rights in Uganda’s extractive industry context.

For nearly three years, ASF and I Watch have been assisting the involvement and constructive participation of Tunisian citizens in local governance relating to natural resources. A survey of young people’s views was carried out in the mining regions of Tataouine and Medenine. Analysis of the results reveals their lack of trust in political institutions in the run-up to the municipal elections that took place on 6 May.

Over 250 participants, including fifty speakers from fifteen different countries around the world, met in Brussels for ASF’s Lawyering for Change conference. The aim: to develop the idea of change through lawyering together. The event highlighted the need to widen the role of lawyers and to enable those seeking justice to take greater action in a global situation where millions of people in both hemispheres have no access to justice.

ASF calls for the strengthening of pro bono practices, which can bring about positive and sustainable change among societies and justice systems. This message has been shared at the 5th Pro Bono Conference held in Bali last week, and will be further disseminated in other international events.

Promoting the rule of law at the national and international levels, and ensuring equal access to justice for all are part of the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations. The effectiveness of justice and the rule of law are central to the establishment of sustainable peace and development in post-conflict countries. But how can we prove this? This is the question raised by ASF during the European Development Days.

During an event on access to justice and international development on April 25, ASF highlighted the need to integrate impact indicators and empirical findings into access to justice programmes and go beyond the Sustainable Development Goals framework. This convening was organised jointly with the American University Washington College of Law Center for Human Rights & Humanitarian Law. It brought together key academic, policy and operational actors, who offered their insights on this critical issue.