{"id":1358,"date":"2014-11-03T15:51:18","date_gmt":"2014-11-03T20:51:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/hrj\/?p=1358"},"modified":"2020-06-23T16:08:19","modified_gmt":"2020-06-23T20:08:19","slug":"hhrj-online-symposium-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/hrj\/2014\/11\/hhrj-online-symposium-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"HHRJ Online Symposium 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Harvard Human Rights Journal<\/em> is excited to launch it’s fall 2014 annual Online Symposium. Each year, we aim to host a discussion on critical and cutting edge human rights issues on our online forum, and invite scholars and practitioners to\u00a0join in and contribute pieces. \u00a0This year, our Online Symposium is titled:<\/p>\n

From the Informal to the Formal:\u00a0Examining Access to Justice and Customary Justice Mechanisms\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the coming week, we are excited to publish an online symposium focusing on issues of access to justice to the poor around the world, with a particular focus on examining the\u00a0challenges that exist within informal, customary and traditional mechanisms of dispute resolution.<\/p>\n

In many countries, the formal state-governed justice system exists alongside various informal methods of justice delivery and dispute resolution, often termed \u201cinformal,\u201d \u201cnon-state,\u201d \u201ctraditional,\u201d or \u201ccustomary\u201d mechanisms. Due to the barriers faced by litigants attempting to access the formal justice system, many have began to shift a focus to informal methods of dispute resolution in a range of cases \u2013 such as family law, land and property disputes, and issues of economic and social rights. There has been an increased emphasis on mediations and on engaging with informal justice mechanisms that already exist at the grassroots level, such as the\u00a0 shalish <\/em>in Bangladesh, the bashingantahe<\/em> in Burundi, or the shura Jirga <\/em>in Afghanistan. Although informal systems of dispute resolution are often more accessible and familiar to communities, they come with their own challenges and considerations, particularly in relation to gender and human rights norms.<\/p>\n

Alongside such concerns, however, there have been innovations and experiments that are promising in their initial stages, improving access to justice in ways that comport with human rights norms, both via formal state-run systems as well as NGO-led and non-state mechanisms.<\/p>\n

We will be publishing five pieces, one each day of this week, that build upon this theme and explore in greater depth the complexities inherent in working to promote grassroots access to justice to communities, and especially the added questions raised by customary justice systems.<\/p>\n

We look forward to publishing the following pieces this week by leading scholars, academics, and practitioners in this field, and welcome commentary in response:<\/p>\n