Career Options
The Dictator's Advocate |
|
1 | 2
Jobboom Publishing |
To find out, take this test by eCareerFit, the career assessment experts.
Jean-Yves Litampha
Photo: Marie-Claude Hamel
THE RULE OF LAW RULES
Litampha describes the second aim of the ICDAA as “promoting the rule of law by strengthening judicial capacity in fragile states such as Afghanistan and Haiti, and helping in the fight against corruption.”“Three years ago,” he explains, “the ICDAA began collaborating with the New York-based International Legal Foundation [ILF] in Afghanistan.” Since then, the organizations have been working together to build a legal aid system for Afghanistan, where many individuals in prisons have never been accused of committing a crime. In some cases, women are brought to the authorities for refusing to marry someone or for engaging in “illegal sexual relations” not actually prohibited by law.
If the ICDAA has its way, the program, known as the ILF-A, will provide everyone in the war-torn country with equal access to fair, efficient legal aid. Since its inception, the system has facilitated the representation of more than 3,200 detainees and obtained relief in almost half the cases it has fought. Canadian defence lawyers are now travelling to coach their Afghani colleagues on how to adapt to their emerging legal system. In July 2007, the initiative received an additional boost from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) to the tune of CAD $2.9 million in funding. Ultimately, the goal is to nationalize the externally funded ILF-A project, turning it into a self-sufficient Afghan NGO.
Fuelled by this experience in Afghanistan, Litampha is now looking to the future. “The ICDAA’s next project will take us to Haiti, where we will adopt a model of legal aid similar to the one we created with the ILF in Afghanistan.” The ICDAA will be part of an international effort to reform the justice system in this Caribbean country, which has become one of the most underdeveloped nations in the world after decades of misrule and a descent into civil war in 2004. Haitian law-making requires urgent attention, as do the courts and penal system, which are woefully corrupt and inadequate. Litampha reports that the ICDAA should have a representative on the ground to assess the situation in early fall 2007 and should be able to implement the legal aid project by the following year.
“The third aim of the ICDAA,” according to Litampha, “is to build an international community of defence lawyers and to meet the needs of threatened defence lawyers around the world.” During its first 10 years of existence, the ICDAA has become a vital facet of the international campaign to bring the world’s worst crimes under the governance of a globally supported system of law.
For more information or to become a member, you can consult the ICDAA website. Membership fees are $30 for students, $60–125 for non-students.
Do you have you a bad boss?