How Does Expanding Access to Justice Matter for Security?

Academic Webinar

Tuesday, September 20, 2022

Access to justice is identified as a core element of rule of law, alongside clear and consistent rules and principles for the application of laws that uphold fundamental rights and freedoms, and the law’s application to all through functional systems of checks and balances. Knowing how different formal and informal aspects of the domestic justice system work, what their pros and cons are, and how to engage the various mechanisms one can choose from are significant contributors in and of themselves to citizen security.  In this webinar, panelists will clearly articulate and offer examples from multiple countries that illustrate the ways that expanding citizens’ access to justice (through domestic courts and alternative dispute resolution) can mitigate drivers of insecurity and enhance the security sector’s fulfillment of its duties to the people.

Webinar Objectives

  • Analyze how expanding access to state justice systems and fostering alternative dispute resolution mechanisms can prevent various forms of political violence.
  • Examine how expanding access to state justice systems and fostering alternative dispute resolution mechanisms can strengthen community resilience to security challenges.
  • Reflect on how access to justice and dispute resolution issues directly affect the security sector’s success in fulfilling its missions and duties to the people.

Recommended Readings

Panelists

Brigadier General (Professor) Dan Kuwali
(Commandant, Malawi National Defense College)

Dr. Martha Mutisi
(Senior Program Officer, IDRC)

Mr. Lury Nkouessom, Esq.
(Team Leader, Access to Justice Component and Deputy Chief of Party, USAID Mali Justice Project)

Moderator

Dr. Catherine Lena Kelly
(Associate Dean and Professor of Justice and Rule of Law, Africa Center for Strategic Studies)