World Justice Forum

The World Justice Forum is the largest international event hosted by The World Justice Project (WJP). It is a global gathering at which prominent leaders from all parts of the world and a variety of disciplines come together to articulate how the rule of law affects their disciplines and regions and to develop collaborative actions to strengthen the rule of law.

The overall purpose of the Forum is to incubate informed and practical action-oriented programs designed and executed by multi-disciplinary groups in their respective communities. Informed by keynote speeches, Rule of Law Index results, and other presentations, participants meet in disciplinary and regional breakout sessions to develop such programs.

The Forum calls on participants to develop and commit to specific follow-up activities. Forums held so far have launched a process through which leaders from various fields of endeavor are implementing programs involving multiple disciplines to strengthen the rule of law. Forum participants work in breakout sessions organized both by discipline and geographic regions and have developed 89 programs with accompanying action plans to strengthen the rule of law in communities, countries and regions around the world.^[1]

World Justice Forum V

The World Justice Forum V will be held in London, in July 2016, in collaboration with King's College London. During the Forum, over 500 leaders from business, civil society, government, academia, the media, and more will gather to explore and share strategies for advancing the rule of law worldwide. Participants from more than 100 countries are expected to incubate new programs, exchange insights, collaborate on innovative rule of law scholarship and activities, and expand their global networks. ^[2]

World Justice Forum IV

The World Justice Forum IV took place July 8-11, 2013, in The Hague, Netherlands. During the three days of the Forum, participants from more than 100 countries engaged in formal plenary and active breakout sessions, learned about innovative rule of law programs, discussed with researchers and scholars during “workshop” hours, and networked with other leaders from different disciplines.

The Forum featured U.S. Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Anthony Kennedy, Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town Thabo Makgoba, UK Supreme Court Justice Robert Carnwath, Lord Carnwath of Notting Hill, and via video, artist Ai Weiwei, among other very notable speakers. ^[3]

World Justice Forum III

The World Justice Forum III, held from June 20-23, 2011, in Barcelona, Spain, brought together over 400 leaders from more than 100 countries. During Forum III, participants designed nearly 50 new, innovative multidisciplinary projects to strengthen the rule of law around the world.

Among others, the Forum featured remarks from: Morgan Tsvangirai, Prime Minister of Zimbabwe; William H. Gates, Sr., Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Cherie Blair, Co-Founder of the Africa Justice Foundation; and Adama Dieng, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations. Justice Arthur Chaskalson, former Chief Justice of South Africa, and Aruna Roy, who spearheaded efforts to enact India’s ground-breaking Right to Information Act through her organization Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS), were honored with the inaugural World Justice Project Rule of Law Award.

Findings from the WJP Rule of Law Index 2011 report, covering 66 countries and jurisdictions around the globe, were publicly presented for the first time at the Forum.

The Forum facilitated engaging discussion on ten critical rule of law issues, which were addressed through topical panels and project design sessions. The issues covered included, among others: Economic Development and the Rule of Law; The Rule of Law and Fair Elections; The Rule of Law, the Environment, and Public Health; and Freedom of the Press, Access to Information, and the Rule of Law.^[4]

World Justice Forum II

The World Justice Forum II took place November 11-14, 2009, in Vienna, Austria. This second worldwide gathering hosted by The World Justice Project was attended by 312 participants from 84 countries and a multitude of disciplines – including architecture, the arts, business, education, environment, government, faith, human rights, international development, labor, media, military, public health, public safety, science. These thought leaders explored the WJP Rule of Law Index data and findings. The Forum also afforded space for reporting and discussion on the first round of the Opportunity Fund seed grant program.

The overall purpose of the Forum was to incubate informed and practical action-oriented programs designed and executed by multidisciplinary groups in their respective communities. Informed by keynote speeches, the Rule of Law Index results, and other presentations, participants met in disciplinary and regional breakout sessions to develop such programs. The Forum aimed to stimulate multidisciplinary collaborations to strengthen the rule of law, build new partnerships, and identify best practices for dissemination and replication. ^[5]

World Justice Forum I

Following outreach meetings on five continents in 2007 and 2008 involving disciplinary leaders from 71 countries, the World Justice Project held its first World Justice Forum on July 2 -5, 2008, in Vienna, Austria. The three-day Forum brought together more than 450 governmental and non-governmental leaders from 83 nations from throughout Asia and the Pacific, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and North America. The WJP's Roderick B. Mathews Opportunity Fund was unveiled at the 2008 Forum.^[6]

References

External links

• World Justice Forum Official Website