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Abbreviation | IDLO |
---|---|
Formation | January 1, 1983 |
Type | IGO |
Headquarters | Rome, Italy |
Region served | Worldwide |
Director-General | Jan Beagle |
Affiliations | United Nations |
Website | idlo |
The International Development Law Organization (IDLO) is an intergovernmental organization dedicated to the promotion of the rule of law.
With a joint focus on the promotion of rule of law and development, it works to empower people and communities to claim their rights, and provides governments with the know-how to realize them. [1] It supports emerging economies and middle-income countries to strengthen their legal capacity and rule of law framework for sustainable development and economic opportunity. [2] It is the only intergovernmental organization with an exclusive mandate to promote the rule of law and has experience working in dozens of countries around the world. [3]
IDLO is headquartered in Rome, Italy and has a branch office in The Hague and is one of a number of entities that are United Nations General Assembly observers.
IDLO has operated in dozens of sovereign states, focusing on institution-building and legal empowerment. [4] Its alumni network includes more than 20,000 legal professionals in 175 countries and 46 independent alumni associations. [5]
IDLO has signed MoUs with United Nations agencies, governments, universities, and other entities. Major financial contributions to IDLO have come from the Australian Agency for International Development, Gates Foundation, Center for International Forestry Research, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Union, Ford Foundation, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, International Fund for Agricultural Development, Institute of Medicine, Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, OPEC Fund for International Development, United Nations Development Programme, and UNICEF as well as numerous countries, namely Canada, China, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States.
Jan Beagle is the current Director-General of IDLO.
IDLO began in 1983 as a non-governmental organization (then called International Development Law Institute) founded by three legal advisors to cooperation agencies in Egypt: L. Michael Hager (USA), William T. Loris (USA) and Gilles Blanchi (France), with the Board presided by Dr Ibrahim Shihata (founder of the OPEC Fund for International Development and Senior Vice-President and General Counsel of the World Bank from 1983 to 1998). The Board also included, among others, Professor René David. The Governments of the United States and Italy provided the start-up seed money and the Headquarter establishment agreement was signed in Rome in 1988. The Institute changed to an intergovernmental organization in 1991 after its first Assembly of Member States in 1990. After the Fall of the Berlin Wall, increased training and assistance was provided in the field of legal and judicial reform in developing and transition countries. [6] In the second half of the 90s, greater attention was also given to sustainable development and the civil society [7] [8] as well as to countries emerging from conflicts if not genocides (e.g. Cambodia, Rwanda). In 2002, the Institute was renamed International Development Law Organisation. [9] In 2001, IDLO was granted Permanent Observer Status at the United Nations. [10] In 2014, IDLO opened a branch office in The Hague. [11] [12]
As an inter-governmental organization, membership to the organization is made up of signatories to the Establishment Agreement of IDLO. [13] The thirty-seven Parties to IDLO's Establishment Agreement are:
Member Party states form the Assembly of Parties, IDLO's highest decision-making body. Kuwait currently sits as President of the Assembly of parties while the US has won the vice-president post. [14] The role of the Assembly is to determine the IDLO's policies and oversee the work of the Director-General.
Jan Beagle is the current Director-General. She was elected by Member Parties on 13 November 2019 and took up her position formally on 1 January 2020 for a term of four years.
IDLO's International Advisory Council is composed of: [15]
IDLO has worked in dozens of countries around the world, [3] with the belief that justice means ensuring fair outcomes in concrete, local terms. [16]
IDLO has been working in Somalia for the last thirty years, providing training to Somali legal professionals and technical assistance to the judiciary. Somali Prime Minister, Dr. Abdiweli Mohamed Ali has called IDLO "a premiere institution that is supporting Somalia on its journey to peace and stability." [17]
In recent years, IDLO has worked on supporting the development of a Somali constitution and in the integration of customary justice. In 2011 IDLO created an assessment of traditional and customary justice, arguing that linking customary and traditional justice in a bottom up approach would be most effective. [18]
Financed by the Italian government, IDLO worked with local experts on the country's provisional Constitution, holding consultative sessions with Mogadishu residents, refugees, and the Somali diaspora. [19]
Towards the adoption of the Constitution, IDLO helped produce a comparative analysis of the new draft Constitution, the Constitution of 1960 and the Transitional Federal Charter of 2004 and supported the Constitutional Affairs and Reconciliation Ministry in hosting a conference on fundamental rights and transitional justice. [20]
Following the adoption of the constitution by the National Constitution Assembly on 1 August 2012 IDLO drafted a report on providing analysis and suggestions for Justice and Security development under the new constitutional order. The report provides a description of steps to be taken during the implementation phase of the constitution, including the establishment of institutions, development and revision of legislative frameworks, and capacity building. It also sketches out dispute resolution mechanisms of the three legal systems in Somalia: xeer, Shari’ah, and the statutory judiciary. [21]
Comparing the draft constitution to those from 53 of the 56 member states of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation, as well as the constitutions of Italy and the United States of America, IDLO found that it contained 36 of the 45 fundamental rights - placing it in the top five of the countries surveyed. The organization also stated that the Somali draft constitution contained 15 more than the Constitution of the United States of America. [22]
IDLO has been active in Afghanistan since 2002, stating their intent has been to restore rule of law in the country and develop a new idea of justice, while respecting the principles of Islam. [23] Primarily Afghan staff have been used to train legal professionals in the country.
Following a survey taken by the IDLO in 2013, which found that women made up just over 8 percent of the country's judges, 6 percent of prosecutors and less than one fifth of lawyers, IDLO's Director General Irene Khan called for greater participation of women in Afghanistan's justice sector. [24]
Whilst the Constitution of Afghanistan offers protection to women, domestic and sexual violence are common and considered a family matter, dealt through informal justice systems composed of male elders. [25] In June 2009, IDLO launched Afghanistan's first Violence against Women Unit, with support from the office of the Attorney General of Afghanistan. [23] IDLO reports that in 2010 the unit handled more than 300 cases. [10]
In December 2010 The U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) contributed $12.1 million to expand and improve legal aid services to the poor and disempowered, increase public awareness of legal issues, rights and services, and improve the investigation and prosecution of crimes against women and girls. [26]
On 11 April 2013 INL announced it would provide IDLO a further $59 million for programmes in Afghanistan: $47 million to fund IDLO implement training programmes for the Afghan justice sector – the Justice Training Transition Program (JTTP) – and another $12 million for a separate IDLO program to provide support and training for prosecution of crimes against women. [27]
In January 2014 the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) released a report highlighting it believed there to be a lack of oversight requirements in INL's 2013 contract with IDLO in relation to JTTP . SIGAR had previously warned of a lack of monitoring in an ‘alert-letter’ to the State Department sent to the State Department on July 22, 2013. [28] The letter also accused IDLO of refusing to provide SIGAR with information regarding its budget, organizational structure and financial relationship with the US government.
In response to SIGAR's 2013 statement, State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said that there were no allegations or evidence of fraud, waste or mismanagement in the program and that oversight was provided through daily contact on the ground.[ citation needed ] In a letter responding to SIGAR's claims, INL highlighted mechanisms of accountability and stated their confidence in the IDLO program. [29]
In a statement posted on their website IDLO called their monitoring and evaluation mechanisms ‘robust and extensive’. IDLO also refuted SIGAR's statement that it had refused to provide information writing that they had met with SIGAR staff in April and May 2013. [30]
IDLO provided the newly established country of South Sudan with technical legal assistance; training the judiciary in both the fundamentals of common law and, during the process of transition away from a Shari’ah based legal system, in ‘legal’ English. [31]
With funding from the European Union in 2014, IDLO scaled up their work in South Sudan, delivering a series of context-specific training courses to 150 newly appointed judges and judicial support staff. [32]
IDLO also stated it was providing technical assistance in drafting a permanent Constitution for South Sudan.
Working with constitutional scholars Zachary Elkins and Tom Ginsberg, IDLO sponsored a group of constitutional scholars from universities in America to review drafts of the Kenyan constitution and provide feedback to the Kenyan Parliament. [33]
In 2013, USAID partnered with IDLO to assist the Government of Kenya develop the comprehensive laws and policies required under the new Constitution, assisting the Kenyan Parliament in reviewing, analysing and passing 55 laws, including 16 required by the Constitution. [34] Investigators in the project used data and analyzed from over 3000 constitutions in the world to share with Kenya's Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) an analysis of the constitutional implementation process. [35] IDLO also implemented projects to strengthen the capacity of the judiciary and engage the public in the process. [36] IDLO has also stated that they are working with the government of Kenya to advance gender equality across the country and enact gender provisions contained in the Constitution. [37]
An independent report found that its work in Kenya had provided support and services were delivered to fulfil identified needs COE and ensured the delivery trainings to educate Kenyans on the proposed Constitution before it was put to a national referendum. Despite some challenges, the report notes, IDLO consultants produced and delivered high quality technical reports and services which eventually contributed to the final version of the Constitution of KenyaRolene Guilland (17 November 2009). Supporting the Committee of Experts on cCnstitutional Review (PDF) (Report). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 May 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2011..
A permanent IDLO regional office was set up in Kenya in 2011.
In a speech at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Director-General Irene Khan highlighted the importance of law in empowering women:
"A core principle of the rule of law is that we are all equal - equally protected by the law and equally accountable to it." [38]
The organization's website states that across all of its programs, IDLO works to empower women. [39] In February 2013 IDLO released a report on women's access to justice, with a focus on improving customary justice for women. [40]
IDLO has a number of times, including at the UN, [41] emphasized the importance of working with informal or customary justice systems and has released three edited volumes on customary justice. [42]
The East African Community (EAC) is an intergovernmental organisation composed of eight countries in East Africa. The member states are the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Federal Republic of Somalia, the Republics of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania. Salva Kiir Mayardit, the president of South Sudan, is the current EAC chairman. The organisation was founded in 1967, collapsed in 1977, and was revived on 7th July 2000. The main objective of the EAC was to foster regional economic integration.
Human rights in Uganda have trended for the past decades towards increasing harassment of the opposition, cracking down on NGOs which work on election and term limits, corruption, land rights, environmental issues, womens, children and gay rights. In 2012, the Relief Web sponsored Humanitarian Profile – 2012 said Uganda made considerable developments Since at least 2013 the Freedom in the World report by Freedom House has identified Uganda as a country considered to be "Not Free".There are several areas of concern when it comes to human rights in Uganda, and the "Not Free" classification is due to both low political rights and civil liberties rankings.
The Asian–African Legal Consultative Organization (AALCO) is an international governmental organization formed in 1956, initially to serve as an advisory board to member states on matters on international law. It was an outgrowth of the Bandung Conference, held in Indonesia during April, 1955, which led to the establishment of the Asian Legal Consultative Committee (ALCC). In April, 1958, it changed its name to the Asian-African Legal Consultative Committee (AALCC) to reflect the growth of its membership beyond the African side of the United Arab Republic. Since 2001, it has been known by its current name, the AALCO, reflecting the growth of its international status; currently an intergovernmental organization having received a standing United Nations invitation to participate as an observer in the sessions and the work of the General Assembly and maintaining a permanent office at Headquarters.
The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) is an agency that reports to the Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights within the United States Department of State. Under the umbrella of its general mission of developing policies and programs to combat international narcotics and crime, INL plays an important role in the training of partner nation security forces.
Africa's fifty-six sovereign states range widely in their history and structure, and their laws are variously defined by customary law, religious law, common law, Western civil law, other legal traditions, and combinations thereof.
The International Network to Promote the Rule of Law (INPROL) is a global, online community of practice, comprising 3,000+ rule of law practitioners from 120 countries and 300 organizations. INPROL works to assist specialists in the rule of law to stabilize war-torn societies.
Xeer is the traditional legal system of Somalia, Somaliland, Djibouti, Somali Region, and the North Eastern Province in Kenya. It is one of the three systems from which formal Somali law draws its inspiration, the others being civil law and Islamic law. It is believed to pre-date Islam. However, Islam influenced it, with Xeer incorporating some Islamic faith elements. Under this system, the elders, known as the xeer begti, serve as mediator judges and help settle court cases, taking precedent and custom into account. Xeer is polycentric in that different groups within Somali society have different interpretations of xeer.
Stoning, or lapidation, is a method of capital punishment where a group throws stones at a person until the subject dies from blunt trauma. It has been attested as a form of punishment for grave misdeeds since ancient times.
The legal status of polygamy varies widely around the world. Polygyny is legal in 58 out of nearly 200 sovereign states, the vast majority of them being Muslim-majority countries. Some countries that permit polygamy have restrictions, such as requiring the first wife to give her consent.
The rule of law is a political ideal that all citizens and institutions within a country, state, or community are accountable to the same laws, including lawmakers and leaders. It is sometimes stated simply as "no one is above the law". The term rule of law is closely related to constitutionalism as well as Rechtsstaat. It refers to a political situation, not to any specific legal rule. The rule of law is defined in the Encyclopædia Britannica as "the mechanism, process, institution, practice, or norm that supports the equality of all citizens before the law, secures a nonarbitrary form of government, and more generally prevents the arbitrary use of power."
Katherine Emily Holt is a British photojournalist, who works primarily across Africa and the Middle East to gather humanitarian and development stories for NGOs and private companies, as well as the UK and global media. She is also the director of communications agency, Arete.
The Office of theSpecial Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) is the U.S. government's leading oversight authority on Afghanistan reconstruction. Congress created the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction to provide independent and objective oversight of the Afghanistan Reconstruction funds. Under the authority of Section 1229 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, SIGAR seeks to conducts audit, inspections, and investigations to promote efficiency and effectiveness of reconstruction programs, and to detect and prevent waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars. SIGAR also has a hotline that allows individuals to report suspected fraud.
Ajonye Perpetua Paya is a South Sudanese constitutional lawyer, judge and human rights activist. Until 2013 she was a first class justice in the South Sudan judiciary. She assisted in drafting the 2005 interim constitution of Sudan. She served in the cabinet of Central Equatoria State in 2011, then in the cabinet of President Salva Kiir Mayardit, who dismissed her in May 2013. Since then she has held leadership positions in the South Sudan Law Society and has often spoken on civil rights issues including women's rights and gender-based violence. In 2023 she headed the Secretariat of the Judicial Reform Committee (JRC) of South Sudan.
The Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of Bangladesh (C&AG) is the Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) of the country. Like the SAIs in many other countries across the world the institution is established by the Constitution of Bangladesh. This institute is responsible for maintaining accounts of the republic and audits all receipts and expenditure of the Government of Bangladesh, including those of bodies and authorities substantially financed by the government. The reports of the CAG are discussed by the Public Accounts Committee, which is a standing committee in the Parliament of Bangladesh.
Amina Chawahir Mohamed Jibril, born 5 October 1961, is a former Kenyan cabinet secretary, lawyer and a diplomat of Somali descent. She is the immediate former Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Heritage and Culture in Kenya. She previously served as chairwoman of the International Organization for Migration and the World Trade Organization's General Council, as well as Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme. She served as the Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Kenya from May 2013 to February 2018, when President Uhuru Kenyatta, after re-election, moved her to the Education docket. In March 2019, she was moved to the Sports Ministry replacing Rashid Echesa. The KNEC Director, George Magoha replaced her in the Education docket.
Sharia means Islamic law based on Islamic concepts based from Quran and Hadith. Since the early Islamic states of the eighth and ninth centuries, Sharia always existed alongside other normative systems.
Capital punishment for offenses is allowed by law in some countries. Such offenses include adultery, apostasy, blasphemy, corruption, drug trafficking, espionage, fraud, homosexuality and sodomy, perjury, prostitution, sorcery and witchcraft, theft, and treason.
The Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict (OSRSG-SVC) is an office of the United Nations Secretariat tasked with serving the United Nations' spokesperson and political advocate on conflict-related sexual violence, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict (SRSG-SVC). The Special Representative holds the rank of Under-Secretary-General of the UN and chairs the UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict. The mandate of the SRSG-SVC was established by Security Council Resolution 1888, introduced by Hillary Clinton, and the first Special Representative, Margot Wallström, took office in 2010. The current Special Representative is Pramila Patten of Mauritius, who was appointed by UN Secretary General António Guterres in 2017. The work of the SRSG-SVC is supported by the UN Team of Experts on the Rule of Law/Sexual Violence in Conflict, co-led by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPO), Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP), also established under Security Council Resolution 1888.
The status of religious freedom in Africa varies from country to country. States can differ based on whether or not they guarantee equal treatment under law for followers of different religions, whether they establish a state religion, the extent to which religious organizations operating within the country are policed, and the extent to which religious law is used as a basis for the country's legal code.
Hodan Addou is a Somalian international civil servant who has been engaged with the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and its successor, UN Women in developing policies for women and women's empowerment since 1992. She has been a programme officer in Kenya; gender and conflict advisor in Burundi; the Regional Peace and Security Adviser for East, Central and Southern Africa; and Country Programme Director in Sudan, Zimbabwe, and Uganda. She is presently the Country Representative for UN Women in Tanzania.
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