Forum Report and Materials

Forum Report and Materials

Preliminary Report on the Second European Forum on Access to Justice

Forum Agenda

List of Participants

The below papers were prepared for the 2nd European Forum on Access to Justice, held on February 24-26, 2005. They are made available here without additional editing, for information purposes only. The views and opinions of the authors do not necessarily state or reflect those of the Open Society Justice Initiative or of the Public Interest Law Initiative.

Welcoming Remarks, by Zaza Namoradze

Panel I: European and International Standards on Access to Justice - Recent Developments

1. International Standards on Legal Aid

2. The proposal for a Framework Decision on certain procedural rights applying in proceedings in criminal matters throughout the European Union, by Caroline Morgan

3. Proposal for a Framework Decision on certain procedural rights applying in proceedings in criminal matters throughout the European Union

Panel II: From Theory to Implementation: Reforming Legal Aid in Central and Eastern Europe

1. New Developments in Legal Aid in Central and Eastern Europe. Updates since the first Forum on Access to Justice held in December 2002

2. Legal Aid Reform: Ministry of Justice Strategy and Vision, by Miglena Tacheva

3. Prerequisites for Legal Aid Reform and Civil Society Approaches, by Martin Gramatikov

4. Activity Report of the Bureau for Legal Aid in Veliko Tarnovo, by Martin Gramatikov

5. The goals and process of institutional legal aid reform in Lithuania, by Paulius Koverovas

6. Legal Aid Reform in Hungary. Model Legal Aid Board Program, by Andras Kadar

7. The Model Legal Aid Program in Hungary, by Balazs Toth

8. Access to Justice Checklist: Comparative Chart on Different Legal Aid Systems, by Jozef Verovic

9. Provision of Legal Aid in the Russian Federation: Legislation and Practice

10. Initiating Law Reform in Moldova: Challenges and Vision, by Victor Munteanu and Victor Zaharia

Panel III: Selected Approaches to Promoting Legal Aid Reform

1. Draft Summary Report on Access to Justice in Serbia and Montenegro

2. Summary Report on Access to Justice in Bosnia and Herzegovina

3. Findings of the "Access to Legal Assistance and Information" Project in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, by Dusan Ignjatovic

4. The Public Defenders Office in Brcko, by Nada Majinovic

5. The Reform of the Criminal Justice System in Chile: from an inquisitorial to an adversarial oral system. The Public Defenders Office Role and Goals, by Sofia Libedinsky

6. A Pragmatic approach towards addressing the Pre-trial detention phenomenon and the provision of effective legal aid in Nigeria, by Anthony Nwapa

Panel IV: Recent Developments in Selected Countries

1. Legal Aid in England and Wales: Current Issues and Lessons, by Roger Smith

2. Reforming Primary Legal Aid in the Netherlands, by Frans Ohm

3. Striving to Square the Circle: Accommodating the Need for Quality Legal Aid at the Age of Shrinking Budgets, by Moshe Hacohen

4. Beyond Lawyering: How Holistic Representation Makes for Good Policy, Better Lawyers and More Satisfied Clients, by Robin Steinberg

Panel V: Legal Aid Provision in Non-Criminal Matters

1. Development of a Civil Legal Aid System: Issues for Consideration, by Dan Manning

2. Union of Citizens Advice Bureaus in Poland, by Hanna Gorska

3. South African Models of Legal Aid Delivery in Non-Criminal Cases, by David McQuoid-Mason

4. Legal Aid and Combating Discrimination, by Dick Houtzager

5. Development Alternatives to Access to Justice in Roma Community in Hungary, by Agnes Kover

Break-Out Groups

1. Researching Legal Aid, by Richard Moorhead

2. Legal Aid in Non-Criminal Matters: Traditional and Non-Traditional Methods of Delivery, by David McQuoid-Mason

3. Legal Aid in Criminal Context, by Valerie Wattenberg and Nadejda Hriptievschi

4. Legal Aid Policy Making and Management, by Roger Smith

Biographies of Presenters and Moderators

Annex I: Concept Papers and Sample Laws

1. Bulgaria: Draft Legal Aid System Reform Concept

2. Bulgaria: Draft Legal Aid Act

3. Lithuania: The concept for improvement of state guaranteed legal aid system drafted by the Working Group on legal aid

4. Lithuania:The concept for improvement of state guaranteed legal aid system approved by the Government

5. Lithuania: Law Amending the Law on State-Guaranteed Legal Aid

Annex II: Empirical Research Methodologies

1. Study on Free Legal Aid in Criminal Cases in Bulgaria, 2004

2. Terms of Reference for a Quantitative Research on Legal Aid in Bosnia and Herzegovina 2003-2004

Annex III: Selected Bibliography on Access to Justice