LASPNET Qarterly thematic cluster meeting
- 21 September 2013 -
- Written by Developer
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LASPNET secretariat held the quarterly thematic cluster meetings in February this year. These were followed by Working group meetings to discuss the salient issues that had emanated from each cluster meeting. We came up with a summary of these as below:
Key issues of discussion at the Cluster and Working Group Meetings
• Need for improved legal representation for the children at Naguru Remand Home and better appreciation of their issues
• UCLF has a budget for sensitization of Magistrates on children’s concerns – other members requested to join this initiative
• Budgetary constraints with regard to family tracing and resettlement of children - VIVA identified as strategic partner in resettlement of children – efforts to engage underway
• UYDEL – ready to equip these children with livelihood skills but needs support with the feeding component Traditional Justice Cluster
• Informal Justice concerns for policy advocacy - while the proposed legal aid policy alludes to the informal justice systems, it does not formally recognize their role and or create mechanisms through which they can be empowered to make a more meaningful contribution towards access to justice
• Meeting decided that before recommending further course of action, there is need to review the informal justice guidelines and identify the gaps
Juvenile Justice Cluster (Matters referred to CIWG)
• Strategies to facilitate an advocacy initiative for a child protection policy – agreed to engage with the technical advisor on family at JLOS.
• Congestion at Naguru Remand Home – Registrar already in process to bring court to the home.
Land Justice Cluster
• National Land Policy – assigned members responsibilities to further identify the proposed amendments within the policy, study them, seek out the priority amendments and then discuss them in the next cluster meeting
Social Justice Cluster (Matters referred to IDWG)
• State of the judiciary today and it’s effects on access to justice – absence of a Chief Justice – no legitimate leadership at the Judiciary
• The Chief Justice’s roles like issuing practice directions and garzetting magisterial areas which are currently not being executed, greatly hamper access to Justice
• Concerns about the lack of independence at the judiciary largely due to reliance on the executive for financial support and appoitments
Gender justice cluster meeting (Matters referred to CIWG)
• Strategies for moving forward the Marriage and Divorce bill – review sensitization mechanism and involve various stakeholders not only Parliament, identify power brokers in Government and simplify language
• Explore possibilities of engaging with FHRI and FDHI to address concerns within the contentious clauses of the bill
Transitional Justice Cluster
• The cluster did not hold a meeting because it is not yet fully constituted
Working Groups
TCWG
• Focused on drafting a statement on Articles 6, 7 and 26 of the Afican Charter (Banjul) on Human and People’s Rights .
• This was meant to contribute towards the CSO shadow report in response to the state report to the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights
CIWG
Discussion on strategies to move the Marriage and Divorce Bill forward;
• Sensitize the media first about the bill such that they can relay accurate information to the public
• Engage stakeholders at community level through visual and audio messages.
• Caption the clauses of the bill at different stages and run them in the News papers
• LASPNET members also need to conceptualize the contentious clauses within the bill before engaging in advocacy.
• There is need to work together jointly as LASPNET members and set roles according to experience and expertise in handling the issues.
• Come to a compromise with the religious community on issues within the bill that affect them.
• There is need to simplify the clauses in the bill and translate them into local languages such that they are understandable to even the lay person
Discussion on advocacy for a child protection policy;
• Gather individual policies on child protection from children’s rights organizations and develop a strategy on how to engage with JLOS to incorporate the recommendations as drawn from these policies. Make a write up of the challenges faced by these individual organizations in enforcing children rights, and share it with JLOS with appropriate recommendations.
• Organize for public interest litigation on the matter
IDWG
Discussion on the state of the Judiciary today and its effects on access to Justice;
• The meeting agreed that advocacy in regards to the effects of the absence of a substantive Chief Justice and an independent Judiciary should be focused mainly at the magisterial courts level because that is where the indigent and vulnerable persons that we represent usually seek justice.
