Governments should ensure justice, truth, full reparation and guarantees of non-repetition. But where they are unable or unwilling, the international community must ensure accountability through international justice mechanisms. (c) provide adequate assistance to victims throughout the judicial process; 21. States should periodically review existing laws and practices to ensure that they adapt to changing circumstances, adopt and enforce, where necessary, legislation prohibiting acts constituting a serious abuse of political or economic power, promote policies and mechanisms to prevent such acts, and establish appropriate rights and remedies for victims of such acts, and easily Access. The lack of effective advocacy services for the indigent often leads to the denial of full access to justice for all citizens. To help, ABA ROLI programs promote better access to justice, legal representation and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms. ABA ROLI has extensive experience with traditional legal aid approaches, such as legal clinics, circuit lawyer programs, civil and criminal legal aid programs, pro bono support, and advocacy for legislation to establish such services. In addition, we are working to strengthen non-traditional legal resources such as community paralegals, which often serve as the primary means of resolving disputes for poor and marginalized people. ABA ROLI also seeks to improve citizens` understanding of their rights by integrating civic education into the provision of legal services.
4. Victims must be treated with compassion and dignity. They have the right to access justice mechanisms and to obtain immediate compensation for the harm they have suffered, as provided for in national law. Extrajudicial executions are unlawful (without trial) and intentional killings perpetrated by a government (or with its complicity) or by a state agent or persons acting with the consent or acquiescence of state officials acting without orders. International justice means ensuring accountability for some of the most serious crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, torture and enforced disappearances. International and national criminal justice mechanisms have several advantages over their human rights counterparts in ensuring victims` access to justice. They will have a physical presence in the territory of the affected State and will therefore have access to evidence, including evidence that could help answer some of the many questions that victims and their families may have as a result of terrorist attacks or human rights violations related to counter-terrorism operations. (Groome, 2011).
International standards recognize access to justice both as a fundamental human right and as a means of protecting other universally recognized human rights. Too often, even when rights exist on paper, enforcement of these standards is weak. Where human rights protections are lacking, marginalized groups are often vulnerable to abuse and face significant challenges in realizing their rights, including within the formal justice system. Our approach aims to empower individuals and communities to assert their rights vis-à-vis the state, promote fairer and more accountable justice systems, and strengthen frameworks that support human rights at the national, regional and international levels. If victims are to appear as witnesses in court, their credibility may be called into question. Although courts increasingly recognize the need to protect the psychological well-being of victims during their trials, cooperating with the court can still be traumatic for the victim concerned. Moreover, there is relatively little crime at the international level and, since individual victims are not able to file complaints themselves, they simply have to hope that legal action will be taken and that it will be in accordance with their own judicial needs. ABA ROLI supports local stakeholders in drafting laws and implements legal education, legal aid and advocacy programs to promote women`s rights.
To improve women`s access to justice, we facilitate mobile courts and support women`s legal aid clinics, as well as paralegals and circuit lawyer programs that provide pro bono support when local lawyer services are unavailable or unaffordable. To promote the professional development of women lawyers and harness their potential to advocate for women`s rights, we offer training and mentorship programs, as well as support to women`s bar associations. And to improve countries` response to domestic violence, systematic rape, harmful traditional practices, and other atrocities, we organize workshops to strengthen legal aid, advocacy campaigns, and legal aid programs. In addition, we promote effective and vigorous prosecution of these crimes by providing capacity-building training to police, prosecutors, judges and lawyers. We also work with activists, leaders and lawyers to advocate for political reform and to incorporate and implement gender provisions in laws and constitutions. These targeted strategies are complemented by a gender mainstreaming approach to ensure that gender perspectives are an integral part of our programmes in all thematic areas. Nevertheless, the primary objective of criminal justice mechanisms remains to establish the guilt or innocence of the accused, and their objective is therefore likely to be narrow. Because they focus on criminal acts that may have been committed by one or more people, they may be insufficient to provide the broader forms of societal healing that may be needed. Full respect for women`s rights is crucial to building the rule of law, but achieving this goal is a challenge in many countries. We launched our Women`s Rights Programme in 1996 to promote reforms that empower women and improve their legal status.
ABA ROLI undertakes a number of activities to promote gender equality, including promoting access to justice, supporting the role of women in the legal profession, and addressing sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). There are many reasons why victims of these crimes are denied justice. These include a lack of political will to resolve crimes and prosecute those responsible, weak criminal justice systems and the marginalization of victims in society. Respect for civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights is a pillar of a strong rule of law culture that ensures the security and stability of communities and nations. Our programmes promote a greater appreciation and application of regional and international human rights principles in national legal systems. Through tailor-made training and capacity building for lawyers, judges, civil servants, law professors, law students, civil society organizations and the public, ABA ROLI contributes to the development of societies capable of defending and enforcing human rights. In addition, we promote and facilitate the documentation and investigation of human rights violations, support strategic litigation and contribute to the protection of human rights in the context of business and development. 7. Informal dispute resolution mechanisms, including mediation, arbitration and customary law or indigenous practices, should be used, where appropriate, to facilitate mediation and reparation for victims. Improving access to justice and promoting human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, including women, children and marginalized communities, are among ABA ROLI`s main objectives.