International Bridges to Justice’s (IBJ) 2010 Asia JusticeMakers Competition, brought to you by the Lien Institute for Social Innovation, will search for and fund grassroots initiatives in Asian communities to promote criminal justice and ensure the legal rights of all men, women and children. The event builds on the success of a similar global initiative in 2008. A panel of eight judges will evaluate proposals based on a set of Judging Criteria, looking for those that demonstrate the most innovation, efficacy, practicability and sustainability. Eight competitors will be awarded $5,000 fellowships, seven by the judges, and one through a public rating process that will allow people to cast votes on final projects.

Organizations also have the opportunity to partner with the 2010 JM Competition, helping to generate and facilitate participation. With customized promotional materials and ongoing support from JusticeMakers staff, you will find partnering to be a straightforward and painless process. Some organizations such as Echoing Green, Global Giving, Give2Asia, Asian Philanthropy Forum and 1-Focus have already gotten involved in the competition and extended their support. Click here for more information on how your organization can be a part of the ‘10 Asia JusticeMakers Competition.

For a glance at the other ideas of the 2008 JusticeMaker Fellows, click here. Rommell Alim Abitria is one of those fellows, implementing a paralegal project in the Philippines. Rommell has witnessed barriers to the delivery of justice first-hand, particularly where individuals could not afford access to counsel or were unaware of their rights. With the help of IBJ and JusticeMakers, he is tackling these issues by training inmates to become paralegals who can represent themselves in court and advise their peers. Click here to learn more Rommell’s project.

2010 JusticeMakers Fellows will be flown to the Singapore Criminal Justice Training Center (SJTC) to receive initial training from the JM panel of judges prior to the beginning of their project. In addition, during the implementation of their project, IBJ will provide Fellows with documentary photojournalists to record and raise the profile of their efforts.

The 2010 JusticeMakers Competition is tentatively scheduled to begin in January 2010 and conclude in May 2010.

For more information, contact liam@justicemakers.net

During a three day seminar from August 28-30, International Bridges to Justice organized and facilitated a pioneer criminal defense skills training involving 64 lawyers from in and around the capital city of Zimbabwe, Harare. Spearheaded by IBJ lead trainer Anthony Natale (a practicing trial lawyer from the Miami Federal Office), and assisted by Karen Tse (IBJ Founder and CEO), Innocent Maja (IBJ Zimbabwe Senior Fellow and Country Manager), Professor Geoff Feltoe (University of Zimbabwe Law Professor), and Alec Muchadehama (a leading human rights lawyer in Zimbabwe), local lawyers engaged in exercises aimed at enhancing their knowledge of the practical skills involved in criminal defense, as well as their knowledge of the Zimbabwe’s criminal procedures.

Using innovative and interactive exercises, the training focused on increasing the capability of local lawyers to provide competent defenses to accused persons, of which has been a problematic issue for many Zimbabweans. They explored a plethora of legal concepts such as cross-examination and procedures to prevent torture against prisoners, helping the participating lawyers in garnering invaluable skills and experience. Summarizing the training for many, one of the participants concluded, “this has made us believe that it is not extraordinary men and women who change the course of history, but ordinary men and women with extraordinary skills and beliefs.”

Over 60 lawyers from in and around Harare recently attended a three-day criminal defence skills training seminar from August 28 - 30, organised by International Bridges to Justice at the Wild Geese Lodge in Harare, Zimbabwe.

The seminar was the first of its kind in Zimbabwe. The major objectives of the seminar were to strengthen the practical skills of criminal defence lawyers and to assist them in becoming better versed in Zimbabwe’s criminal procedures to provide competent defences to accused persons. Participants were drawn from various private law firms, the Legal Aid Directorate - a governmental entity entrusted to provide counsel and representation to indigents - and other civic organisations. The lead trainer was Anthony Natale, a practicing trial lawyer for the past 30 years from the Miami Federal Office, in the United States of America. Anthony trained in tandem with Karen Tse (IBJ Founder and CEO), Innocent Maja (IBJ Zimbabwe Senior Fellow and Country Manager), Professor Geoff Feltoe (University of Zimbabwe Law Professor) and Alec Muchadehama (a leading human rights lawyer in Zimbabwe).

Above: From left to right: IBJ Founder Karen Tse congratulates a trainee with Tony Natale, Miami Public Defender and Trainer (Photo by Florence Chatira).

The training was based on practical methodologies. The trainers and participants used modern, innovative, dynamic and participatory training tools and exchanged ideas and experiences. At the end of the seminar, participants were given complimentary copies of the current Criminal Defender Handbook and the Community Service Guidelines, both written by Professor Feltoe and commissioned by IBJ in conjunction with Legal Resources Foundation (LRF) and International Bar Association (IBA).

Above: A Zimbabwean lawyer exposing the vision she has for her country’s criminal justice system. (Photo by Florence Chatira). 

The training was a resounding success with participants showing great enthusiasm and eagerness to learn and implement the skills imparted to them. At the end of the training, participants acknowledged that they had learnt a lot and acquired relevant practical skills related to their work. Many lawyers found the training informative, interesting and inspiring and encouraged International Bridges to Justice to host additional such training events in the future. The seminar undoubtedly sparked momentum among lawyers and inspired them to dedicate more resources, time and energy towards criminal legal aid. A core group of dedicated advocates committed themselves to contribute to the transformation of Zimbabwe’s criminal justice system and to provide free legal assistance to indigent citizens accused of a crime with the support of IBJ.

Above: Zimbabwe lawyers signing hope for the furture of their country’s justice system, with IBJ Founder  Karen Tse (far right). (Photo by Florence Chatira)

To view a video summary of the training, please click here.

IBJ is excited to announce its first ever Zimbabwe Criminal Defense Training which will be held in Harare, on August 28th, 29th and 30th 2009. This three-day skills-building training will be lead by an experienced panel of eminent trainers. Anthony Natale, a Federal Public Defender from the Miami Federal Office, in Florida, USA will train in tandem with Karen Tse, IBJ Founder and CEO, as well as Professor Geff Feltoe, a leading legal authority in Zimbabwe, and IBJ Zimbabwe Fellow and Country Manager, Innocent Maja.

Above: From left to right: Professor Geoffrey Feltoe and IBJ Zimbabwe Fellow, Innocent Maja, moderating the first roundtable on prison overcrowing in early July 2009. (Photo by Florence Chatira).

More than 70 criminal defense and legal aid lawyers are expected to join forces in Harare to discuss and share practical tips about Development of Theory of Case, Investigation, Interviewing, Opening and Closing Arguments, Direct Examination, and Cross Examination. Procedural issues surrounding the use of torture as an investigative tool and other issues will also be pondered during evening roundtable sessions.

The training aims at equipping lawyers with a set of practical skills they can leverage to provide quality counsel to their clients and to have them reflect upon the values which led them to become advocates. Beyond, the hope is to build the leadership of a criminal legal aid movement that can push for systematic access to legal counsel throughout the country.

To view the full training program, please click here.

International Bridges to Justice Founder and CEO Karen Tse made an appearance yesterday on World Radio Geneva, where she discussed IBJ’s efforts to support emerging legal aid organizations in developing nations.

Click here to listen to the broadcast.

In the fall of 2007, a few of us were sitting around the conference table at the International Bridges to Justice, discussing IBJ’s programs in China, Cambodia and a nascent initiative in Burundi. IBJ Founder and CEO Karen Tse expressed her enthusiasm with the progress to date… but also an urgency to bring IBJ resources to criminal defenders worldwide. Scale, she said, was the key. “How can we connect and empower a global defender community? How can we set up global systems to systematically address defenders’ needs?”

In IBJ’s JusticeMakers Initiative, Karen might have found an answer.

In the four short months since the launch of www.justicemakers.net, IBJ has connected virtually with more than 2,500 unique web visitors from 125 countries worldwide. And while there is certainly a correlation between site visits and the places where IBJ has programs – we’ve had hundreds (!) of visits from places like Nigeria, Kenya and Pakistan – places where IBJ has yet to initiate activities. (This, in large part due to fantastic partners like Legal Rights Forum of Pakistan whose JusticeMakers poster is on the wall by my desk.)

But this initiative was about more than eyeballs on the internet. With eight $5,000 funding awards on the line, IBJ asked community members to propose concrete actions they could take to curb torture and legal abuse on a local level. After receiving 64 proposals from JusticeMakers in 28 countries, we have now identified 40 Finalists. Among them…

• A human rights curriculum distributed via DVD to local justice officials.
• The public exhibition of incidents of abuse to encourage pro-bono legal support.
• A text messaging service to aid women in the provision of counsel.

The ideas are creative, cost-effective and critical… and if we had the resources, we’d love to see all of these ideas come to fruition.

And while we don’t have the funds to finance all these projects, we do have a JusticeMakers community with an eagerness to engage and a deep understanding of criminal justice. Through JusticeMakers’ People’s Choice Awards, IBJ is empowering the community by making it collectively responsible for the financial fate of their projects. (According to James Surowiecki’s Wisdom of the Crowds, this diverse, global group of criminal justice stakeholders possesses the collective wisdom to determine project of the highest quality.) A final benefit of the People’s Choice Awards is that the applicants are now helping us grow the community at a rate of 60 new users per day – in an effort to get friends and colleagues to endorse their initiative.  (And thanks to partners like i-genius we’re reaching more and more social entrepreneurs people every day.)

So… a year after Karen challenged IBJ to broaden its reach, we’re now in direct contact with thousands of people worldwide. Twelve months after she prioritized defender engagement, these defenders are evaluating criminal justice innovations from around the world. And 52 weeks after she proposed expanding our impact, IBJ is set to seed eight concrete initiatives to curb torture and legal abuse on four continents.

What’s next? Let’s just say that Karen hasn’t stopped challenging the IBJ team. But based upon the commitment, creativity, and capability of my colleagues and the larger JusticeMakers community… the sky’s the limit.

As we approach the term of the inaugural JusticeMakers Competition, I would like to reflect upon my experience with the JusticeMakers community members, the variety of challenges we both encountered and ways to streamline the competition process in the future.First of all, I would like to highlight how friendly, dedicated and passionate the hundreds of JusticeMakers I have been exchanging with virtually have been so far. The encouragement, support and energy we received from Vikram Srivastava and Rakesh Mathur from India, Tahir from LRF Pakistan, Olivier from Burundi, ASPDDH from Benin, Emmie Chanika from CILIC Malawi, Franck from DRC, Bandita from Nepal (see below right), Joseyav from DRC (see below left) among so many other generous individuals or organizations gave us the continuous strength to move forward in the face of a variety of challenges.

The feeling of being part of this global community of committed lawyers, NGO officers, judges, government officials and so many others from all over the world is thrilling. Thank you all.

From my point of view, one of the greatest promises of JusticeMakers lays properly in its capacity to gather committed, entrepreneurial and innovative human rights defenders and its ability to make them all feel like member of a global movement in favor of criminal justice in countries as different as Pakistan, Kenya and Brazil. To my mind, this feeling of belonging to a community that JusticeMakers has been able to spark off will further get transformed into an energy of action and innovation to concretely improve the lives of the thousands of accused persons whose dignity and rights are challenged on an everyday basis.

I have noticed that IBJ Founder and CEO Karen Tse always comes back from her trips with the strong conviction that criminal defense lawyers and other key actors of the criminal justice system lack confidence. They lack confidence in how much change they can bring in their criminal justice system. They feel extremely lonely in the face of this monumental mission - to eradicate torture and other cruel and inhumane treatments around the world. The Burundian and Indian trainees in particular told us how much it meant for them to be and feel part of a global community of defenders this summer. JusticeMakers is an answer to this search for the meaningfulness of collective belonging and action.

Of course, the challenges to build a functional and lively online community are numerous and require a lot of patience, energy and determination. One of the first barriers is purely technical: we acknowledge that the internet access is not available worldwide and that in some part of the worlds, it may be costly and/or irregular. However, technology now provides us with the unique opportunity to maintain a lively group dialogue. We should nonetheless think through a tangible strategy about how to reach some of the most remote part of the world where vulnerable people (often children and women) are the most likely to have their legal rights violated.

Maybe the JusticeMakers team could select one JusticeMakers Ambassador per country responsible for organizing JusticeMakers Roundtable Meetings/Parties (thank you Tupperware for this brilliant idea!) on a monthly-basis in remote villages of their country to keep their community members informed about what’s happening on JusticeMakers.net and then report back to the JusticeMakers community about their suggestions, comments and project ideas?

Maybe the JusticeMakers Team should create one or two “Most Active JusticeMakers Award” to urge the user to engage with other community members, whether on the forum or using the guestbook and to build a constructive and fruitful dialogue on contemporary criminal justice issues.

Maybe, and this is more ambitious, some funds should be secured and allocated on an annual basis to equip the most remote provinces of a country with computers and internet access for the relevant criminal justice system actors of these areas to be part of the online community?

These are just ideas and I would be happy if you, whether you are a JusticeMakers community member or a simple reader could provide me with your insights at: fanny@justicemakers.net

Thanks for keeping the promise of JusticeMakers alive.

International Bridges to Justice Founder and CEO Karen Tse speaks at the 2008 Committee of 100 Conference.

The Committee of 100 is a national non-partisan organization composed of American citizens of Chinese descent. Each member has achieved positions of leadership in the United States in a broad range of professions. With these diverse backgrounds, members collectively pool their strengths and experience to address important issues concerning the Chinese-American community, as well as issues affecting U.S.-China relations.

As part of her effort to engage the global criminal justice community, IBJ Founder and CEO Karen Tse participated last month in New York University’s Reynolds Speaker Series. According to NYU, the series:

…presents prominent social entrepreneurs and leaders from across the spectrum of public and professional sectors who will share their insights as cutting-edge, far reaching change makers.

As always, Karen captivated the audience with her own background as a criminal defender and her insights into human rights in the 21st century. But what was particularly interesting and inspiring to me was the intensity and passion with which the audience responded to her comments.

At the end of the day, IBJ can scream its head off about the need to implement criminal justice legislation… but progress will only come when we can inspire the next generation of defenders and social entrepreneurs to invest their time, passion and resources in the transformation of their local legal infrastructure.

If the diverse and highly talented audience at NYU was an indication of that coalition, it seems we’re well on our way…

Karen’s full remarks can be seen here. (Unfortunately, you must have Real Player to watch the clip.) They can also be heard via podcast here.

Among the social entrepreneurs featured alongside Karen in the series, were Jed Emerson, Jacqueline Novogratz, and Dr. Paul Farmer. Many thanks to NYU and the Reynolds Program in Social Entrepreneurship for putting together such a fantastic series.

Last week, I had an incredible opportunity to tag along with some of my IBJ colleagues and attend the Skoll World Forum at Oxford.

In many ways, I felt like a groupie… celebrating the efforts of extraordinary social entrepreneurs from around the world. I was in heaven. Jimmy Carter. Jeroo Billimoria. Bill Strickland. These were truly the rock stars of sector - their stories made famous by David Bornstein, Bill Drayton, and Jeff Skoll. The awards ceremony did little to diminish the festive, hopeful environment - with the Skoll Foundation naming their latest fellows - Kiva, Digital Divide Data, and Partners in Health among them.

And yet… among the smiles and endorsements, each social entrepreneur seemed to have an incredible intensity - a feeling that their efforts were only scratching the surface. Al Gore had a particularly strong tone when he talked about the mounting climate crisis - suggesting that, perhaps, we didn’t understand the urgency of the situation; being five years late to act could make a huge difference. Paul Farmer shared the sentiment, wrapping up his closing speech by mentioning that, tomorrow he would be “heading back to work in Rwanda.” A social entrepreneur’s job is never done.

Urgency was also a central theme of IBJ founder Karen Tse’s message during the opening plenary. While highlighting her experience working with Cambodian defenders to promote reform after the Khmer Rouge genocide… she was quick to point out the countless number of defenders who yearned for IBJ’s assistance in countries worldwide. She stressed the importance of helping those people ASAP.

As an observer and IBJ employee, I couldn’t help but agreeing with Karen. Having discovered an effective model for criminal justice transformation, we have an *obligation* to bring IBJ’s services to scale. And… at the same time… that’s what’s so challenging about the environment. A global defender support program necessitates the right systems, the right people, and the right ways to measure the impact of our work. But, given the demand for global justice, can we really afford to take our foot off the gas???

The good news is that IBJ realizes these challenges… and we’re crafting strategies that allow us to give more defenders more access to IBJ services, without the bulk and expense of formal country programs. It’s called the Global Defender Support Program… and it blends elements of the multi-stakeholder governance model pioneered the Marine Stewardship Council… with the social networking and collaboration platforms of igenius and Social Edge. The hope is that defenders will be able to share ideas, provide guidance, catalyze criminal justice stakeholders to affect change without the direct involvement of IBJ staff.

Can we ever live up to Karen’s expectations that IBJ will be global overnight? Probably not. Are we glad she pushes us? Absolutely. After all, if someone doesn’t dare to dream the impossible, nothing changes. Jimmy, Jeroo and Bill can attest to that…