The history of South Sudan has been marked by persistent conflict, both before and after the country’s independence in 2011, which has exacerbated the already complex web of overlapping land claims... Show moreThe history of South Sudan has been marked by persistent conflict, both before and after the country’s independence in 2011, which has exacerbated the already complex web of overlapping land claims and unclear land rights. Many South Sudanese people, especially women, lack land tenure security. This report, based on qualitative research implemented in the South Sudanese cities of Torit and Wau in 2021 and 2022, aims to investigate practical interventions for land justice and the dynamics of land justice in South Sudan. To do so, the report focuses on three main topics. First, it provides an overview of land administration in South Sudan. Second, it investigates land-dispute resolution mechanisms, with a particular focus on the Community Mediation Groups (CMGs) implemented by the South Sudan Law Society (SSLS). Finally, it discusses women’s land rights in South Sudan in customary and statutory systems, the paths available for women to claim their rights, and women’s voices and roles in positions of leadership. Show less
This article investigates the strategies that women human rights defenders use to engage in legal mobilization and overcome gendered barriers to justice. It does so through analysis of a specific... Show moreThis article investigates the strategies that women human rights defenders use to engage in legal mobilization and overcome gendered barriers to justice. It does so through analysis of a specific health and safety dispute involving women workers and the Republic of Korea’s biggest semiconductor corporation. Show less
Arguably, the Covid-19 pandemic has presented new opportunities for digital transformation within the justice sectors in African countries and beyond. The LEWUTI project (Legal Empowerment of Women... Show moreArguably, the Covid-19 pandemic has presented new opportunities for digital transformation within the justice sectors in African countries and beyond. The LEWUTI project (Legal Empowerment of Women Using Technology and Innovation) predates the pandemic, and is run by BarefootLaw, a Ugandan socio-legal NGO. As the 2020 UNDP report highlights, during the pandemic many courts were adapted to digital technologies. Online justice was supposed to respond more rapidly to challenges in this unprecedented situation, creating new opportunities to reach more beneficiaries and scale up justice processes. However, it is not clear that women benefit equally from the digitisation of justice systems. The pandemic highlighted some of the risks of relying on digital means to achieve women’s legal empowerment, especially for rural women. Against this background, this study examines the opportunities and challenges entailed in the digital transformation of access to justice as a means of legal empowerment for rural women in Northern Uganda. Data for the study was collected in the rural Gulu area, through focus groups discussions with selected women. The data was then analysed through the lens of Legal Empowerment (LE) and Access to Justice frameworks, to make sense of the information generated. The findings suggest that digital technology can play a significant role in addressing the unmet legal needs of rural women in Uganda. Many women have reported being able to use digital interfaces to access legal help, evaluate their problems, and decide whether the problems have legal solutions. These technologies have also helped women to prepare evidence and to make sense of laws and legal documentation. Obstacles remain, however. These include a lack of legal knowledge and awareness, poverty, a lack of access to mobile phones, illiteracy, a lack of telecommunication infrastructure, power inequalities, and the attitudes of some lawyers. These factors continue to hinder some rural women’s use of digital technology to access justice. Some women also emphasised that introducing digital technologies to secure women’s legal empowerment may be putting the cart before the horse, so long as the corruption of Uganda’s legal and court system remains pervasive. Show less
More than three quarters of Indonesians do not have access to piped water. They depend on river water for bathing and sometimes also for drinking water. But the vast majority of rivers are... Show moreMore than three quarters of Indonesians do not have access to piped water. They depend on river water for bathing and sometimes also for drinking water. But the vast majority of rivers are severely polluted, many of them by industrial waste. This book explains why it has been so difficult for both the government and citizens to act against industrial river pollution. This socio-legal research looks at regulation and explains how government institutions have set norms to polluting behaviour, and how they have detected and responded to violations. It also analyses how citizens have participated in this process and how they seek redress for the wrongdoings they are faced with. Does victim involvement offer better chances for adequate environmental problem solving? The author illuminates the complex interrelations between the processes of regulation and redress seeking. Two extended case studies on Rancaekek in West Java and Kao-Malifut in North Maluku demonstrate illustrate how in practice these interrelations can lead to losing sight of stopping the actual pollution problem, shifting focus to compensation and increased social tensions and inequality within communities. This study’s theoretical contribution lies mainly in expanding the insights into the mutual influence of regulation and redress seeking. Show less
Litigation arising from civil disputes can be costly. In the Netherlands, as a rule, the successful party is able to recover the costs from the losing party only up to a liquidated amount.... Show moreLitigation arising from civil disputes can be costly. In the Netherlands, as a rule, the successful party is able to recover the costs from the losing party only up to a liquidated amount. Higher costs would not be compatible with the fundamental right of access to justice. Since 2006/2007, the costs shifting rule of art.1019h of the Dutch Code of Civil Procedure has been applicable to intellectual property cases. On the basis of this article, costs may be shifted in full to the losing party. This article reflects the broad implementation of art.14 of the Enforcement Directive. The notion underlying this rule is that the prospect of a substantial recovery of costs ought in fact to broaden access to justice. The extensive, full costs orders have important consequences for parties in IP disputes. This book addresses the issues that have arisen in the context of the implementation, interpretation and application of cost shifting rules in IP disputes. Additionally this thesis addresses the broader issues of the increasing European influence on national procedural law, the consequences of the use of open norms in procedural rules and the link between costs shifting rules and the accessibility of the courts more generally. Show less
