The Konrad Adenauer Foundation, New York, and the International Legal Foundation (ILF) hosted a roundtable discussion on the Equal Access to Justice for All resolution (A/RES/78/227) adopted in 2023 by the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice and subsequently by the UN General Assembly.
On December 11, 2024, in accordance with United Nations General Assembly Resolution 78/227, Equal Access to Justice for All [LC1], the Expert Group Meeting on Equal Access to Justice for All was convened by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Brasilia, Brazil. The event, hosted by the Brazilian Ministry of Justice and Public Security with the Support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the government of Canada, brought together experts nominated by Member States from around the world to share information on challenges, lessons learned, best practices and enabling factors needed to enhance the functioning of criminal justice systems to ensure equal access to justice for all. In line with this mandate, the experts, from Ministries of Justice, police, prosecution, judiciary, legal aid providers, academia, and civil society, discussed barriers to justice and strategies to overcome them based on their national experiences.
The expert group meeting enabled meaningful exchange and consensus on how to strengthen equal access to justice for all and address inequity in criminal justice systems. The meeting resulted in a strong set of recommendations that have been shared for consideration by the regional preparatory meetings of the Fifteenth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice and for possible inclusion in the draft Abu Dhabi declaration. The recommendations cover a wide range of topics but importantly, emphasize an urgent need to address discrimination and unequal treatment in criminal justice systems. This event aims to discuss how UN member states, UN agencies, and civil society can work together to make these recommendations a reality in practice.
To discuss the implementation of this UN Resolution, our distinguished speakers, Jennifer Smith, the Executive Director of the International Law Foundation (ILF), and Anna Giudice, Team Leader of the UNODC Access to Justice Team in the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Section, addressed broader issues related to this important topic:
- How can States, UNODC, and civil society organizations work together to advance implementation of the Equal Access to Justice for All resolution and the recommendations in the Brasilia meeting report?
- The Brasilia meeting report details strong consensus around discrimination as a key barrier to equal access to justice for all. How can the recommendations, in particular, support for the development of knowledge and exchange of experience amongst States on evidence-based approaches in addressing discrimination in access to justice be taken forward?
- How can we improve the quality and availability of justice system data, including data disaggregated by factors such as, among others, race, gender, and age, ensuring its accessibility to promote transparency, and inform evidence-based policymaking?
- How can we best spotlight the sustainable, resilient, innovative, and people-centered solutions and approaches that governments and stakeholders, including civil society organizations are employing to advance equal access to justice for all?