Supporting the rule of law
Welcome to the inaugural issue of the CBA International Development Program (CBA-IDP) newsletter – a new initiative designed to inform our members, partners, staff, donors and stakeholders about our priorities, achievements and plans.

 

In this issue:

SPOTLIGHT: NEPAL

Building democracy, constitution, equality
The CBA-IDP collaborated with the Nepal Bar Association from 2007 to 2011 to engage civil society more closely in democratic development and assist with constitutional matters.

RULE OF LAW

Supporting local bar associations in East Africa, Southeast Asia
The legal profession has a crucial role to play in advancing the rule of law in the countries where the CBA-IDP works. To that end, we have been working in partnership with bar associations in East Africa for more than a decade, and in Southeast Asia since 1996.

IN THE FIELD

Dustin Milligan on internship in South Africa
Dustin Milligan, an intern with the CBA-IDP, arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa near the end of the summer of 2011 to join the Impact Litigation Unit of Legal Aid South Africa.

IN BRIEF

• China
• Vietnam
• East Africa
• Canada

Supporting the rule of law

Welcome to the inaugural issue of the CBA International Development Program (CBA-IDP) newsletter – a new initiative designed to inform our members, partners, staff, donors and stakeholders about our priorities, achievements and plans.

The CBA-IDP is the Canadian Bar Association's international development wing. For more than two decades, this CBA initiative has worked in tandem with its overseas partners to deliver legal and justice reform in 30 countries across Asia, Africa, Central Europe and the Caribbean. Program staff and volunteers work to support the institutional capacity of the bar and build the capacity of the legal profession in the countries and regions where we work. In this newsletter and on our website, we report on how we work with our partners abroad to improve the rule of law – and by extension, human rights, equality, democracy and prosperity.

Our programs are funded by a variety of external donors, such as the Canadian International Development Agency, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, and the Danish International Development Agency. The CBA has also contributed to the program in kind over many years through thousands of volunteer hours donated by its lawyers and judges.

The CBA-IDP is based on the tenet that without the rule of law, the political and socio-economic circumstances required to establish and preserve the dignity and equality of all people cannot exist: economies cannot prosper, democracies cannot take root, and human rights cannot be protected. As with any aspect of international development, such as health or education, regional context plays a key role in progress. We therefore work closely with our local partners to understand the local environment, then identify and implement strategies to strengthen and build the rule of law.

Justice system prerequisites

It is to these ends that our strategic priorities (see above) focus on areas that target a country's justice system, striving to ensure that it is available, accessible, accountable and affordable. We support our legal partners as they work to strengthen policies and regulations, institutional capacity, court administration, professional standards, public education and awareness. We provide them with appropriate tools and training to reinforce their quest to revise laws and advocate for clients.

We also endeavour to build long-term sustainability in the projects to which we contribute so that when a project concludes, progress continues. We support and facilitate collaboration between legal institutions, and establish long-term relationships between Canadian justice sector institutions and our partner countries.

The CBA-IDP is the only Canadian institution with access to expertise in virtually every aspect of the justice system, from substantive areas of law to governance of the legal profession to court administration. Our advantage is our unique ability to leverage Canadian lawyers' diverse knowledge and experience to provide legal and justice reform assistance to our overseas partners.

For more information about the CBA-IDP, please visit our website.

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Spotlight: Nepal – Building democracy, constitution, equality

The CBA-IDP collaborated with the Nepal Bar Association from 2007 to 2011 to engage civil society more closely in democratic development and assist with constitutional matters.

The official release of the Nepal Bar Asscociation's Recommendations on the Constitution

To most westerners, Nepal is synonymous with the trappings of tourism: Himalayan treks and sherpas, colorful Buddhist prayer flags, monasteries, sadhus, snake charmers and the lively markets of Kathmandu. However, lawyers working on CIDA-funded projects to engage civil society in democratic development and assist Nepal's Constituent Assembly and lawmakers on constitutional issues experienced another Nepal entirely over the past five years—one that had witnessed considerable civil unrest throughout the past decade due to the Maoist insurgency that began in 1996. Dissolutions of the government in 2002 and 2005 compounded the unstable situation.

It is widely believed that a principal reason for the long-running conflict was a feeling of exclusion among marginalized groups in Nepal; the perception was that these groups felt barred from the democratic process, and did not view it as an avenue that could successfully advance their interests. From 2007 to 2011, Canadian lawyers worked to change that, first by by assisting the Nepal Bar Association (NBA) as it consulted with citizens about the election of a socially inclusive Constituent Assembly and established the values they wanted to see in the new constitution, and later by collaborating with the NBA to engage the Constituent Assembly and lawmakers on constitutional issues.

The consultations that formed the first part of the project focused on Nepal's most disadvantaged and vulnerable people, including women and socially excluded groups such as Dalits ("Untouchables"), indigenous peoples, people with disabilities, ex-Kamaiyas (former bonded labourers), Madhesis (people who live in the lowlands bordering India) and people experiencing discrimination due to sexual orientation.

The CBA-NBA Developing Democracy in Nepal (DDN) projects aligned with three of the CBA International Development Program's five strategic priorities: access to justice; law reform and rights advocacy; and capacity-building within the legal profession. The projects were designed to support democratic processes in Nepal, particularly in connection with the election of a Constituent Assembly and the drafting of a new constitution. They were planned to take into account the evolving situation on the ground while remaining sensitive to the country's complex post-conflict dynamics and efforts to build sustainable peace.

To participate in advancing the rights of Nepal's disadvantaged groups, Canadian lawyers took an active role in engaging constitutional development and collaborating with local partners to better understand Nepal's constitutional matters, rights and recommendations. Lawyers with the CBA-IDP contributed to the development of tools that civil society organizations could utilize to advocate for rights, such as a Training Kit for the Implementation of Constitutional Equality Rights, which included a workbook with complementary resource sheets, a CD and a discussion paper.

The project contained a strong emphasis on women's equality, aiming to increase the opportunities available to women; to promote and protect their personal security; and to raise their standard of living. The discussion paper explored the steps necessary to the implementation of equality rights, and noted that the first would be for the Nepali government to develop and commit to an action plan. The paper also noted that this plan should articulate goals, timetables and accountability mechanisms to ensure women's equality in all fields, and should take into account all aspects of women's social and economic inequality.

Ensuring these tools were used to greatest effect, and rights actually implemented in practice, was a key challenge. To that end, some of Canada's leading constitutional minds contributed to the project, addressing issues such as discrimination and the structure of the court system.

Sheri Meyerhoffer, CBA Project Director for the NBA-CBA DDN Project, says the success of the project depended on contributions from a diverse array of Canadian and Nepali experts, and she felt honoured to work alongside so many capable and highly placed Nepali women. "These women represent the front line of a new Nepal for women – a Nepal that not only guarantees equality but that works diligently to ensure substantive equality for women," she says.

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Rule of Law: Supporting local bar associations in East Africa, Southeast Asia

Building capacity, providing legal aid and assisting with the creation of professional standards

Community paralegals in East Africa

The legal profession has a crucial role to play in advancing the rule of law in the countries where the CBA-IDP works. To that end, the CBA-IDP has been working in partnership with bar associations in East Africa for more than a decade, and in Southeast Asia since 1996. Currently, it is involved in capacity-building programs for legal professional associations in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania as well as Cambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam. These programs support the evolution of the internal structure of the bar, the development of the skills of its members, and the role of the bar in enhancing access to justice.

We are consistently impressed and humbled by what our partner organizations can accomplish:

• There was no bar at all in Cambodia when the CBA-IDP began working there, as only a handful of lawyers survived the genocide carried out by the Khmer Rouge. As a result of establishing a Lawyers Training Center in 2003, the Bar Association of the Kingdom of Cambodia has more than 700 members today, and the center continues to support both the growth of the legal profession and the development of stronger professional standards.
  
  
• In East Africa, the CBA-IDP has worked in partnership with a number of local law societies to increase access to justice, and has played a pivotal role in providing necessary legal aid services to some of the most vulnerable members of the public, including victims of gender-based violence, people affected by HIV/AIDS, and those living in remote areas without access to the courts or legal assistance.
  
  
• The CBA-IDP is currently working on a project to support the Vietnamese Bar Federation to organize professional training for aspiring and active lawyers; to create and establish norms and structures for the self-management and regulation of the legal profession; and to help the federation assert itself as an articulator of professional common interests and views. Underway since 2010 and set to conclude in 2013, this project is empowering lawyers in Vietnam.

Results from projects such as these illustrate how lawyers can provide an important voice for their clients in countries where citizens, in particular the poor and disadvantaged, have a limited role in government and few opportunities to exercise their rights. Such results are gratifying for our partners, our Canadian volunteers and our staff to see because they underscore the importance of a strong bar in supporting the rule of law.

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In the field: Dustin Milligan on internship in South Africa

Dustin Milligan, CBA-IDP intern

Dustin Milligan, an intern with the CBA-IDP, arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa near the end of the summer to join the Impact Litigation Unit of Legal Aid South Africa. Called to the bar in Prince Edward Island in 2011 after graduating from McGill University in 2010 with a double degree in common and civil law, he was motivated to apply for the internship because of his keen interest in constitutional law and human rights. He will be there until March 2012. Here is a glimpse into his experience with the program thus far.

Q: What were your first impressions of Johannesburg?

A: I was surprised to find that Johannesburg is made up of many little neighbourhoods with lots of trees and colourful flowers throughout. I was also surprised to learn how segregated these neighbourhoods are. The long history of apartheid and racial segregation is wildly apparent in the makeup of the city. Most neighbourhoods are distinctly one colour or the other, and I find myself very aware of the racial makeup and dynamics of every corner store, restaurant and neighbourhood I enter.

South Africa's Bill of Rights is one of the most progressive guarantors of rights and freedoms in the world. However, the lived reality for many South Africans belies the progressive jurisprudence. There is a constant struggle in turning the constitutional rights of equality and dignity into a lived reality for all South Africans – an aspiration that requires much time, effort and resources to achieve.

Q: How would you describe your organization's mandate, and what is your role?

A: The Impact Litigation Unit's mandate is to litigate class actions against the backdrop of South Africa's 1994 Constitution, which created class actions in South Africa with respect to violations of rights contained in the 'Bill of Rights.' I work directly under the Senior Impact Litigation Attorney, and am responsible for working on a variety of impact litigation files, drafting briefs on applications for impact litigation funding, and also working on a number of advocacy programs that have constitutional significance for a large segment of legal aid clients. Since South Africa's constitution is very progressive and provides a wide variety of constitutional rights, files vary widely from matters involving environmental rights, housing rights, equality rights and children's rights.

Q: What do you hope to accomplish before your internship ends?

A: I'm responsible for and invested in a number of projects. One that stands out is a colloquium on child support and maintenance. These are very urgent matters in this country – many women find it impossible to navigate the system at the maintenance courts and to enforce any court orders that they may obtain. This has led to wide-scale abuse of the child support regime and has a detrimental impact on children's welfare across the country.

Q: As a newly minted Canadian lawyer, what strengths or assets do you bring to Legal Aid South Africa?

A: South Africa's Bill of Rights was heavily influenced by Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms in the post-apartheid period. My experience with the Charter and Canadian constitutional law therefore provides a good starting base in terms of professional experience. In addition to my legal background, I feel that the interest and enthusiasm I bring to each file, and the ability to apply my own unique background to my work, is of benefit to the unit.

Dustin Mulligan is the author of a series of children's books focusing on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The first seven books in the series of 13 will be published this summer by DC Canada Education Publishing Company. To read more about Dustin Milligan in Johannesburg, visit his blog at http://charterforchildren.wordpress.com.

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In brief

$10 million to support the rule of law in China

In partnership with Legal Aid Ontario and Community Legal Education Ontario, the CBA-IDP has been awarded a contract through a competitive Request for Proposals (RFP) process with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) to implement a project focusing on legal aid for marginalized groups in China. The contract for the inception phase was signed in September 2011, and staff members are currently working on the project implementation plan. The project is expected to run for six years.

Legislative development in Vietnam

The CBA-IDP, in partnership with Stikeman Elliot LLP and Ontario Justice International (the consultation service of the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General), recently won a competitive bid on a CIDA-funded project to implement a national legislative development project in Vietnam. We are currently in the midst of negotiating the project contract, and expect work on this $14 million project to begin later this year and continue until 2019.

Access to justice in East Africa

CIDA has awarded CBA-IDP a project to support access to justice for children and youth in East Africa beginning in spring 2012. This is a $4.5 million project that will run for five years. We look forward to working with our long-time partners in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda on this.

Canada

A new round of international internship placements will start in fall 2012, and the CBA-IDP is looking for applicants. The application deadline is April 2012. For more information about the program and the application process, visit our website.

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MARCH 2012
Inaugural Issue

Editor:
Patti Ryan

E-Publications Editor & Production:
Rose Steele

Staff Liaison:
Elisabeth Wilson

Published by the Canadian Bar Association's International Development Program

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