Rule of Law Talk

In this episode, WJP speaks with Adalah, an independent human rights organization and legal center based in Haifa, Israel. Mellon-ACLS Public Fellow Joe Haley is joined by Dr. Hassan Jabareen, Adalah's Founder and General Director. A noted scholar and lecturer on the legal status of Arab minorities in Israel, Hassan founded Adalah in 1996 to advance the cause of human rights, in general – and Arab-Palestinian rights, in particular – within the legal system of Israel. Under his leadership, Adalah has represented Palestinians in many landmark cases before the Israeli Supreme Court, including cases that impact Palestinians' right to participate freely in electoral politics, their equal title to land and access to public resources, and the legal status of Arab-Israeli citizens and their immigrant family-members who have been displaced by conflict. Proving the adage that minority rights are human rights, Adalah has sought accountability for rights abuses at the hands of police and security forces, as well as equal protection for citizens who have been incarcerated or who are accused of crimes. Their list of accomplishments includes a library of academic publications on such topics as torture, forced displacement, and systemic discrimination within Israeli law – as well as a litany of successful advocacy campaigns designed to mobilize international institutions and spread awareness about real-time threats confronting ethnic minorities in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. When we spoke last year, political tensions within Israel had recently boiled over following the attempted eviction of a Palestinian family living in an East Jerusalem neighborhood known as Sheikh Jarrah. Weeks of mass protest within Jerusalem were followed by a cross-border exchange of airstrikes and rocket fire, resulting in numerous injuries and deaths. One month later, Israelis of all stripes took to the polls in an historic election that ousted the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's longest serving prime minister. Amidst the backdrop of these tumultuous events, Hassan struck a tone of cautious optimism regarding the progress of Arab equality as his country emerges from this latest round of political violence and the lingering global pandemic.

In this episode, Mellon/ACLS Public Fellow Joe Haley speaks with a team of implementers at WeSolve Philippines, a civil society organization working to build a culture of open data and transparent budgeting, starting with greater accountability for the expenditure of public funds on the response to COVID-19.

In honor of Law Day on May 1, our latest Rule of Law Talk conversation focuses on an exciting new civics education effort, the Educating for American Democracy (EAD) initiative, spearheaded by iCivics and dozens of other organizations and institutions, including the American Bar Association. WJP's Elizabeth Andersen is joined by the Executive Director of iCivics, Louise Dubé; the President-Elect of the American Bar Association, Reginald Turner; and an experienced high school civics educator from Nevada, Averill Kelley, who in addition to his work on the civics front lines, has worked with both the ABA and iCivics to support their work.

In this Rule of Law Talk podcast conversation, WJP’s Joe Haley speaks with the founder of LawPàdí, a legal empowerment platform. LawPàdí pairs a legal referral service with innovative approaches to legal education, such as street law clinics and automated chat bots, in order to help Nigerians resolve their most common civil justice problems. The conversation touches on the security ramifications of access to justice in the Sahel, anddives into measures of program impact, the role of legal self-help, the strategic use of data, and the importance of building public trust. Ultimately, Ibidapo-Obe shares his vision for a streamlined system of justice in Nigeria.

In this Rule of Law Talk podcast conversation, WJP’s Joe Haley speaks with the founder of Femmes et Droits Humains, a non-governmental organization working to include Malian women in the justice and peacebuilding process. The conversation addresses the cultural disparities confronting Malian boys and girls as these pertain to education and access to justice, the effort to educate women about their rights under international law, and the importance of building a women’s movement to resist theocratic rule. There is also a sobering discussion about the Malian government’s reliance on customary justice to address instability. Note: This interview took place in March 2020.

In this Rule of Law Talk podcast conversation, WJP’s Joe Haley speaks with the founder of tech startup Bankly, Tomiola Adejana. They met in the Hague, Netherlands, where Adejana had just been announced as the 2020 winner of the Innovating Justice Challenge, an incubator program run by the Hague Institute for Innovating Law. Their conversation explores Bankly’s strategy for using traditional networks to introduce digital finance to Nigeria’s “last mile.” They also discuss the strategic role of impact investment, the process of social entrepreneurship, and the regulatory challenges confronting a financial startup in Nigeria.

In the first Rule of Law Talk podcast installment for the Rule of Law Solutions Initiative, WJP's Joe Haley speaks with program officers from the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA-ROLI) and Association Temedt who are working to abolish the practice of descent-based slavery in Mali. The conversation revisits a successful two-year program, supported by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, which helped to raise awareness about descent-based slavery and obtain liberation and legal documentation for hundreds of victims. The discussion also touches the problem's historic roots, the difficulty of achieving legislative reform in the midst of a security crisis, and the importance of enlisting customary justice leaders.

World Justice Project Executive Director Elizabeth Andersen is joined by Christof Heyns, Professor of Human Rights Law at the University of Pretoria and member of the United Nations Human Rights Committee, to discuss the right of peaceful assembly. A new General Comment issued this week by the United Nations Human Rights Committee provides guidance on this topic at a critical moment, with protest movements on the rise across the globe, any many countries grappling with the appropriate response—something that has become even more complicated with the COVID-19 pandemic and public health restrictions on large gatherings.

Killian Dorier, Senior Program Associate for Engagement at the World Justice Project, is joined by Nikole Nelson, Executive Director of the Alaska Legal Services Corporation, and Walter Flores, Executive Director of the Center for the Study of Equity and Governance in Health Systems (CEGSS) to discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected indigenous communities in the United States and abroad, and what this additional pressure on countries' rule of law systems means for them.

The winners of the 2020 WJP Anthony Lewis Prize for Exceptional Rule of Law Journalism— Pavla Holcová, Arpád Soltész, and Eva Kubániová—personify the principle quoted by their outlet, "Even if you kill a journalist, you can never kill a story."

In a recent online event produced in partnership with the American Society of International Law and recorded on May 20, 2020, Professor Tom Ginsburg, Jacques deLisle, Andrea Kendall-Taylor, and Mark D. Agrast joined us to discuss international law in an age of rising authoritarianism, and implications in contemporary policy contexts including management of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

The unprecedented public health emergency caused by COVID-19 is posing a major crisis for justice defenders around the world. Hina Jilani, a member of The Elders and Co-Chair of the Task Force on Justice, and Maaike de Langen, Program Lead on Justice For All with the Pathfinders, join WJP Chief Engagement Officer Ted Piccone to discuss challenges for delivering justice for all during the COVID-19 crisis, and how justice defenders should respond.

WJP research team members Alejandro Ponce, Alicia Evangelides, and Amy Gryskiewicz join WJP executive director Elizabeth Andersen to discuss the WJP Rule of Law Index 2020—an annual study of the state of the rule of law around the world. Following the recent launch of the 2020 Index, WJP's team of experts come together for a deep dive into what the WJP Rule of Law Index measures, how WJP gathers the data, and key insights into 2020 findings.

Margaret Lewis, Professor of Law at Seton Hall University, joins WJP Chief Engagement Officer Ted Piccone on Rule of Law Talk to discuss China's rise as a global power and its rule of law record. The World Justice Project has just released its annual WJP Rule of Law Index, based on surveys of expert practitioners and households in 128 countries and jurisdictions worldwide. For the last five years, China has scored significantly below global and regional averages. Its scores on factors measuring Constraints on Government Powers and Fundamental Rights are among the lowest in the world, while it performs better on Order and Security and Civil Justice.

Hurst Hannum, Professor of International Law at Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, joins WJP Chief Engagement Officer Ted Piccone to discuss the current state of of the human rights movement, and how the international human rights community should respond.

Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Regents Professor and Robina Chair in Law, Public Policy, and Society at the University of Minnesota Law School joins WJP Chief Engagement Officer Ted Piccone on Rule of Law Talk to discuss emergency laws and human rights.

The rule of law requires effective laws and institutions—but it also requires leadership. This week on Rule of Law Talk, WJP Executive Director Elizabeth Andersen is joined by two members of the Justice Leadership Group—Willy Mutunga and Salaheddin Al-Bashir—to discuss "What Makes a Justice Leader?"

Joining us on this June 26 International Day in Support of Victims of Torture episode is Gerald Staberock. Mr. Staberock is Secretary General of the World Organization Against Torture, a coalition of nearly 300 organizations working against torture, summary executions, enforced disappearances and other forms of degrading treatment or punishment. Torture has long been considered a crime against humanity that allows no exception for necessity. Yet we know security forces continue to deploy torture and other forms of cruel pain and suffering to extract confessions or other information, or simply to terrify and dehumanize victims and their families. In this installment of Rule of Law Talk, we discuss what the international community is doing to address this problem, and what more needs to be done. Learn more about this episode here: bit.ly/2IKJlxV.

Olivia Swaak-Goldman is executive director of the Wildlife Justice Commission, a new organization that's working to address the challenge of wildlife trafficking. A large and growing transnational criminal challenge, wildlife trafficking is in fact the fourth-largest crime of this type globally. On this episode of Rule of Law Talk, we discuss the work of the Commission and its impact on the rule of law.

Rachel Kleinfeld is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the founding CEO of the Truman National Security Project. Her new book, "A Savage Order," explores extreme violence in democracies: why it comes about, why it persists, and successful case studies for change. Ms. Kleinfeld joins WJP Communications Director Matthew Harman on Rule of Law Talk to discuss how various forms of violence get better, what lessons policymakers can glean from the book, and more. Learn more about the episode and find a link to "A Savage Order" here: bit.ly/2RfLlTW.

As a new administration takes control in Mexico, Mexican lawyer and political scientist Javier Martín Reyes joins us on Rule of Law Talk to discuss the opportunities and challenges facing the new president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and what that means for the rule of law in Mexico. Learn more about the episode here: bit.ly/2BP3vn6.

Rule of law is often considered the province of governments, judges, and lawyers. But doctors, engineers, teachers, artists, businesspeople, and ordinary citizens are all stakeholders and critical players in upholding human rights. Ed Rekosh of Rights CoLab joins us on Rule of Law Talk to break down the important roles that businesses and civil society organizations play in building a broad-based rule of law culture in society. Learn more about this week's episode here: bit.ly/2S1b4wo.

Populism is on the rise. From North America to Eastern Europe to East Asia and the Pacific, populist parties are gaining prominence and winning power. Joining us this week on Rule of Law Talk is Robert Muggah, Research Director and Program Coordinator for citizen security at the Igarapé Institute, to discuss the state of the rule of law in Brazil and the impact of the recent election of Jair Bolsonaro. Learn more about this week's episode here: bit.ly/2D88r7G.

Professor Rebecca Sandefur is a distinguished sociologist and legal scholar whose research focuses on inequality, particularly as it relates to law. She joins WJP Director of Engagement Joel Martinez to talk about access to civil justice: what that term means, what the research says about it, and how it can be improved. Learn more: bit.ly/2P2MLRr.

In episode two of Rule of Law Talk, Professor Tom Ginsburg joins us to talk about what can be done to preserve democracy around the world. His new book, "How to Save a Constitutional Democracy," examines current trends in democratic governance. Drawing on comparative constitutional and political analysis, Ginsburg and his co-author, Aziz Huq, provide insight into the elements of institutional design that can make a difference in the face of an authoritarian onslaught. More info available at our episode page: goo.gl/GMr9PL. Rule of Law Talk features conversations with leading lights on the front lines of understanding and advancing government accountability, fundamental rights, open government, safety and security, access to justice, and other rule of law topics. This podcast is brought to you by World Justice Project.

In light of the U.S. Senate’s deliberations on Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court, Professor Jack Knight of Duke University and World Justice Project executive director Betsy Andersen discuss the United States’ process of judicial selection, the role it plays in ensuring accountability and independence, and compare the U.S. approach with other methods around the world. More info available at our episode page: https://bit.ly/2oOAfpj Rule of Law Talk features conversations with leading lights on the front lines of understanding and advancing government accountability, fundamental rights, open government, safety and security, access to justice, and other rule of law topics. This podcast is brought to you by World Justice Project. Watch out for more episodes in the coming weeks, both here and everywhere you like to listen to podcasts—sound quality will be improving as well! Thanks for listening.