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Breaking Down Barriers: Towards inclusive access to justice

25 June 2016 • 4:30 – 6:00 pm CET
Palais des Nations

Breaking Down Barriers: Towards inclusive access to justice

Monday 25 June | 16:30-18:00 | Room XXVII, Palais des Nations

Sustainable Development Goal 16 calls for the realisation of peaceful and inclusive societies in which all individuals have equal access to justice.

Achieving access to justice, which includes due process and equality before the law, is a complex challenge. It demands not only examining the letter of the laws that are in force, but also identifying and overcoming systemic and practical barriers that preclude equal access to justice.

The International Commission of Jurists, Minority Rights Group International, the International Bar Association Human Rights Institute, the Permanent Mission of Austria to the UN and the Permanent Mission of Australia to the UN invite you to attend a panel discussion in the margins of the 38th Session of the Human Rights Council that will reflect on the multiple and intersecting barriers still experienced by those who are frequently among the most marginalised and at risk in society more generally: Indigenous people, people living with a disability and people from ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities.
The discussion will also explore the responses (systematic, legislative, practical, international or otherwise) that can include and legally empower such persons when they come into contact with the legal system as a means to promote their equal access to justice.

Speakers:

Mr Matthew Pollard, Senior Legal Advisor, UN Representative, International Commission of Jurists (Moderator)

Dr June Oscar AO, Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Australian Human Rights Commission

Mr Glenn Payot, UN Representative, Minority Rights Group International

Ms Victoria Lee, Programme Manager, Human Rights and Disability Team, OHCHR

Photo: Indigenous women marching for peace in Bogota