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Communiqué
NATIONAL JUDICIAL INSTITUTE:
New Judicial International Cooperation Initiative Established
Ottawa, January, 2004 – I am pleased to advise you that the National Judicial Institute has established an International Cooperation Group in order to develop its capacity to support international judicial cooperation activities.
In recent years, the expertise of Canadian judges has been increasingly sought by other countries as they reform their laws and judicial systems. While it is desirable to facilitate access to our expertise and in this way strengthen independent and effective judiciaries, we also we need to identify and share lessons learned from such work to date, strengthen linkages among stakeholders and clarify a number of important policy issues in order to enhance Canadian capacity in this area.
The objectives of the new international cooperation group at NJI are focused on
-providing leadership, coordination, and practical services to facilitate appropriate involvement of Canadian judges in international cooperation activities;
-improving the quality of judicial education both internationally and in Canada through exchanges which enable judges in Canada and other countries to learn from each other's experience; and
-working with major donor and government agencies to contribute to the design of development assistance programming that includes judicial involvement in order to maximize its effectiveness.
As part of our work, we hope to develop a process by which judicial skills can be matched to international needs, and judges can be better prepared and supported in their participation in international missions. We believe it will also be important to clarify the roles that judges can best undertake and seek broad agreement on the terms and conditions under which judges participate in this work. We envisage working collaboratively with a range of stakeholders.
Some of the projects which we are beginning to work on include:
-developing a roster and protocol for identifying judges for international projects;
-developing policies and protocols addressing judicial deployment in international projects, including pre-mission briefings and documentation of lessons learned;
-offering a course on judicial international participation as part of the NJI curriculum; and
-managing selected international projects that focus on judicial education and judicial reform expertise.
These initiatives will require ongoing consultation with Chief Justices and Chief Judges, internationally experienced Canadian judges, and other experts. NJI very much appreciates the advice received to-date. We are hoping the roster of Canadian judges will be operational by December 2004. We will initiate a process of communication with interested individuals and groups. A newsletter and website are also under development to make information readily available.
We are pleased to announce that NJI has received CIDA funding to work in partnership with the Philippines Judicial Academy and the Judicial Studies Centre of the Americas to create a Judicial Educators' Network ("JEDNET"). This two-year project will help to build the capacity of the partner organizations in delivering judicial education and will aid the development of NJI's international cooperation work.
Justice François Rolland of the Superior Court of Quebec has been appointed as the Judicial Associate at NJI for this project.
An advisory committee will be put in place in order to achieve the objectives of the International Cooperation Group. The advisory committee will be formed with representatives of organizations and groups involved in judicial international cooperation activities and judicial education.
The JEDNET project team will be led by Professor T. Brettel Dawson, a Director of the International Cooperation Group at N.J.I. Ms. Alexis Andrew is the Administrative Coordinator for the project.
George M. Thomson
Executive Director
National Judicial Institute
For further information, please contact:
Professor T. Brettel Dawson, Director, International Cooperation Group
National Judicial Institute
Suite 300, 161 Laurier Ave W.
Ottawa ON K1P 5J2
Tel: (613) 237-1118 (ext. 242)
Fax: (613) 237-6155