From 3-5 November, the World Bank organised in Washington its Law, Justice and Development week (LJD). About 1,000 experts in legal reform from all over the world attended the conference. On behalf of UIHJ, Marc Schmitz, president of UIHJ and Jos Uitdehaag, first vice-president, attended this event.
The LJD serves as a platform for legal professionals from across international organizations, the public and private sectors, academia, and civil society to discuss the impact in legal development: how can the legal profession harness its network, expertise, and innovation to accelerate better development outcomes?
“Innovative Legal Solutions to Development Challenges” was the central theme. The event underlined the importance of cooperation of the legal community to create and effectively implement policy, laws and regulatory frameworks as a support to economic development and poverty reduction. What are the innovations in the legal sector and what are the potential risks associated with these innovations? Just to highlight some of the sessions:
Using innovative legal tools to return stolen assets: the use of tools to enhance the tracing, recovery and return of assets derived from purported criminal activities.
Digital innovation in preventive justice: secure property rights and access to justice: opportunities and challenges for digital solutions in the preventive administration of justice with practical examples from Benin, Brazil, Indonesia and Italy. Among the speakers were the president of the International Union of Notaries and the superior court of justice from Brazil.
Towards a joint platform for innovative access to justice: during this session the launch of the World Bank Access to Law and Justice Working Group was formally launched with a dialogue between, among others, the chair of the United States Federal Judiciary’s Committee on International Judicial Relations, the president of the French National Bar Council and representatives of UN.
Rethinking legal protections for a livable planet: case studies on innovative approaches to remedy environmental crimes: This session explored innovative legal strategies to protect the environment. Robert Cicuto, treasurer of the of the UEHJ executive committee and delegate of the French National Chamber of Commissioners of Justice, presented the statement of facts as an innovative tool to strengthen environmental justice.
