Regional Inclusive Justice Symposium-South Asia

REGIONAL INCLUSIVE JUSTICE SYMPOSIUM-SOUTH ASIA ISLAMABAD SERENA HOTEL, JUNE 28-29, 2024

A. INTRODUCTION:

Federal Judicial Academy (FJA) is the premier judicial education institution of Pakistan. Under its statutory mandate, FJA is striving for capacity development of Judges and court staff since its inception. It also creates opportunities for Judges to interact with key players of justice sector for generating interdisciplinary discourse. As such, it envisions itself as an institution of excellence aimed at crafting a capable, credible and independent judiciary for expeditious and inexpensive justice that upholds the values in line with the aspirations of the people of Pakistan.

UN Women is the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide. UN Women supports UN Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality and works with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programmes and services needed to ensure that the standards are effectively implemented and truly benefit women and girls worldwide. It works globally to make the vision of the Sustainable Development Goals a reality for women and girls and stands behind women’s equal participation in all aspects of life, focusing on its strategic priorities.

Under the Rule of Law and Governance Programme, UN Women Pakistan Country Office is implementing a five year “Deliver Justice Project” funded by European Union (EU). It is a joint Programme with UNDP and UNODC, which focuses on enhancing capacity of justice sector institutions with the objective of providing accessible and affordable justice solution to indigent litigants especially women.

Over the course of two and a half years of Programme implementation, it has achieved significant results by institutionalizing initiatives within government policies and plans. This includes development of new policies and procedures for easing women access to justice, creating gender parity in justice sector institutions, gender responsive budgeting and planning based on gender responsive infrastructure analysis, enhancing capacity both in skills and knowledge as well as capitalizing on strengthening the implementation process of key selected laws.

Federal Judicial Academy Islamabad, in collaboration with UN Women-Pakistan, is organizing the Regional Inclusive Justice Symposium - South Asia, a two-day event aimed at fostering dialogue, sharing knowledge, and enhancing judicial practices to promote women's rights and inclusivity within the justice system. The symposium will bring together distinguished Women Judges and Experts from across the region and Pakistan, providing a platform for a comprehensive exchange of ideas and experiences.

B. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The primary goal of the Symposium is to strengthen gender-responsive and inclusive justice system by;

a. Expanding Women’s Rights through Judicial Jurisprudence:

Launching and discussing Study commissioned by UN Women-Pakistan with funding from European Union on "Expanding Women’s Rights through Judicial Jurisprudence" based on key judgements from Pakistan's superior courts concerning women's rights issues such as rape, inheritance rights, domestic violence and child marriages.

b. Analysing procedural lacunas, lack of safety nets, perception barriers and the impact of gender-sensitive legal interpretations.

c. Navigating Meaningful Inclusivity: Ensuring Representation:

Engaging in panel discussions on global perspectives regarding institutional challenges and solutions, socio-economic disparities, and barriers in access to justice.

d. Promising Practices for Meaningful Inclusivity:

Exploring regional perspectives on how pro-inclusivity structural interventions through legal frameworks, institutional capacities, and changing societal mind sets can foster meaningful inclusivity.

e. Empowerment through Capacity Enhancement:

Identifying areas for improvement and propose strategies to empower women in the judiciary through comprehensive capacity enhancement efforts. It will share insights on enhancing judicial capacity with a focus on gender fair language, training opportunities, research endeavours and international collaboration.

C. EXPECTED OUTCOMES

The symposium aims to achieve several key outcomes, including:

a. Enhanced Understanding and Implementation of Pro-Women Laws:

Increased awareness and knowledge among judges about the existing legal framework supporting women's rights in Pakistan.

b. Strengthened Regional Judicial Collaboration:

Development of a network of women judges and judicial leaders in South Asia committed to sharing best practices and supporting each other in promoting inclusive justice.

c. Identifying and Addressing Judicial Gap:

Identification of procedural lacunas, safety net deficiencies, and perception barriers, with strategies formulated to address these issues.

d. Global and Regional Insights on Inclusivity:

Comprehensive discussions on global and regional challenges to inclusivity and solutions, leading to actionable recommendations for overcoming institutional, socio- economic, and access barriers.

e. Empowerment of Women Judges:

Emphasis on the role of women judges in fostering inclusivity, promoting gender fair language, and ensuring representation in judicial leadership roles, with a focus on gender-sensitive legal interpretations.

D. SYMPOSIUM STRUCTURE

The symposium will have mixed of activities for visiting delegates from experiencing Pakistan’s culture and cuisine to sharing their country’s best practices. The delegates will also visit host offices to understand functioning of justice institutions.

➢ Symposium Day-1 (Friday, June 28, 2024):

Inaugural day of the symposium will feature a tone setting address followed by launch of a ground-breaking study titled “Expanding Women’s Rights through Judicial Jurisprudence." This study examines key judgements from Pakistan's Superior Courts on critical issues such as rape, women's inheritance rights, domestic violence and child marriages. The authors of the study will present their findings, providing a deep dive into the judicial handling of these vital issues. This will be followed by a Panel discussion where experts will offer their perspectives on the study's key highlights, addressing sub-themes such as procedural lacunas, lack of safety nets, and perception barriers.

Another component on “Ensuring Representation for Inclusive Justice” will start with a Plenary Address followed by Panel discussion. It will explore "Navigating Meaningful Inclusivity: Ensuring Representation," with a focus on institutional challenges, socio-economic disparities, and barriers in access to justice.

➢ Symposium Day-2 (Saturday, June 29, 2024):

Day-2 of the symposium will feature a keynote address highlighting “Pro-Inclusivity Structural Interventions.” It will follow Panel discussions on “Promising Practices for Meaningful Inclusivity: The Structural Interventions” and “Empowerment through Capacity Enhancement”. After some high-profile speeches, the Hon’ble Chief Justice of Pakistan will be concluding the symposium with his distinguished address.

E. TARGET AUDIENCE:

The symposium will be attended by;

a. Global experts on gender issues and inclusive justice.

b. Representatives of Justice sector institutions and experts from south Asia.

c. Representatives of Superior Judiciary, Faculty of the FJA and Judges from District Judiciary of Pakistan.

d. Government functionaries, especially women professionals from the rule of law and justice sector institutions and representatives of leading CSOs.

e. UN Women participants from Provinces as well as Islamabad Office.