Access to Legal Information (Human Right of Access to Law)

The Relevance of the Aarhus Convention to the Concept of Access to Legal Information

Dr. Leesi Ebenezer Mitee — Thu, 04 Mar 2021 22:09:33 +0000

The Relevance of the Aarhus Convention to the Concept of Access to Legal Information

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention) is relevant to the concept of access to legal information because public legal information is included in its definition of “environmental information. Section 2(3) of the Aarhus Convention states:

“3. ‘Environmental information’ means any information in written, visual, aural, electronic or any other material form on:

(a) The state of elements of the environment, such as air and atmosphere, water, soil, land, landscape and natural sites, biological diversity and its components, including genetically modified organisms, and the interaction among these elements;

(b) Factors, such as substances, energy, noise and radiation, and activities or measures, including administrative measures, environmental agreements, policies, legislation, plans and programmes, affecting or likely to affect the elements of the environment within the scope of subparagraph (a) above, and cost-benefit and other economic analyses and assumptions used in environmental decision-making;

(c) The state of human health and safety, conditions of human life, cultural sites and built structures, inasmuch as they are or may be affected the state of the elements of the environment or, through these elements, the factors, activities or measures referred to in subparagraph (b) above . . .”

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe introduces the Aarhus Convention as follows:

“The UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters was adopted on 25th June 1998 in the Danish city of Aarhus at the Fourth Ministerial Conference in the ‘Environment for Europe’ process.

Together with its Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers, it protects every person’s right to live in an environment adequate to his or her health and well-being. They are the only global legally binding global instruments on environmental democracy that put Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development in practice. . . .”

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The Human Rights-Based Approach as a Conceptual Framework for Ascertainment of Indigenous Customary Law

Dr. Leesi Ebenezer Mitee — Tue, 02 Mar 2021 12:27:09 +0000

The Human Rights-Based Approach as a Conceptual Framework for Ascertainment of Indigenous Customary Law

Excerpts from the book, The New Human Rights-Based Huricompatisation Model of Ascertainment of Indigenous Customary Law: Strategies for Adequate Local and Global Public Access, Volume 2 of the Human Right of Free Access to Public Legal Information Book Series (Publisher: Koinonia Legal Research and Book Publishing, Tilburg, The Netherlands 2021).

The human rights-based approach (HRBA) emerged in 1995 from ‘The Right Way to Development: Human Rights Approach to Development Assistance’ published the Human Rights Council of Australia.[1] The United Nations Sustainable Development Group (UNSDG)[2] adopted The Human Rights Based Approach to Development Cooperation Towards a Common Understanding Among UN Agencies statement in 2003[3] (shortened as ‘the Common Understanding’). One of the items of the Common Understanding states: ‘All programmes of development co-operation, policies and technical assistance should further the realisation of human rights as laid down in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments.’[4]

The United Nations defines ‘human rights-based approach’ as ‘a conceptual framework for the process of human development that is normatively based on international human rights standards and operationally directed to promoting and protecting human rights.’[5] The United Nations’ three HRBA strategies are as follows:

As development policies and programmes are formulated, the main objective should be to fulfil human rights.[6]
A human rights-based approach identifies the rightsholders and their entitlements and the corresponding duty-bearers and their obligations, and works towards strengthening the capacities of rights-holders to make their claims and of duty-bearers to meet their obligations.[7]
Principles and standards derived from international human rights treaties should guide all development cooperation and programming in all sectors and in all phases of the programming process.[8]
Other HRBA strategies include rights talk to promote awareness of the rights of a group and legal advocacy or mobilisation through litigation in domestic courts to enforce and promote human rights.[9]

[1] Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, ‘Human Rights and Politics in Development’ in Michael Goodhart (ed), Human Rights: Politics and Practice (2nd edn, Oxford University Press 2013) 161, 166.

[2] Also referred to as United Nations Development Group (UNDG).

[3] UNSDG ‘The Human Rights Based Approach to Development Cooperation Towards a Common Understanding Among UN Agencies’ (adopted the United Nations Sustainable Development Group in 2003) accessed 27 November 2020 (UN Statement of Common Understanding 2003).

[4] Ibid

[5] UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Frequently Asked Questions on a Human Rights-Based Approach to Development Cooperation (HR/PUB/06/8, United Nations 2006) 15 accessed 1 June 2019 (UN Human Rights-Based Approach 2006).

[6] Ibid 15.

[7] Ibid

[8] Ibid 16.

[9] Paul J Nelsona and Ellen Dorsey, ‘Who Practices Rights-Based Development? A Progress Report on Work at the Nexus of Human Rights and Development’ (2018) 104 World Development 97, 99 accessed 13 April 2018.

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The Concept of Ascertainment of Customary Law (Indigenous Customary Law)

Dr. Leesi Ebenezer Mitee — Sun, 21 Feb 2021 20:04:10 +0000

The Concept of Ascertainment of Customary Law (Indigenous Customary Law)

There is no universally acceptable definition of indigenous customary law, but it rightly refers to ‘the laws, practices and customs of indigenous and local communities which are an intrinsic and central part of the way of life of these communities.’[1]

One strange aspect of indigenous customary law is its numerous names, which include simply customary law, common law, folk law, indigenous law, informal law, living law, primitive law, traditional law, unwritten law, unofficial law, native law, and tribal law.[2] The term ‘indigenous customary law’ is preferred in this book (and recommended) because it clearly distinguishes it from customary international law that is also simply referred to as ‘customary law’. Another intriguing aspect is that different categories of professionals lay claim to expertise in it, e.g. lawyers, folklorists, classicists, anthropologists, historians, sociologists, and philosophers.[3]

These are excerpts from the book, The New Human Rights-Based Huricompatisation Model of Ascertainment of Indigenous Customary Law: Strategies for Adequate Local and Global Public Access, Volume 2 of the Human Right of Free Access to Public Legal Information Book Series (Publisher: Koinonia Legal Research and Book Publishing, Tilburg, The Netherlands 2021) Dr. Leesi Ebenezer Mitee.

[1] Patricia Adjei, ‘What Place for Customary Law in Protecting Traditional Knowledge?’ (World Intellectual Property Organization, August 2010), accessed 20 February 2021.

[2] Alison Dundes Renteln and Alan Dundes (eds), Folk Law: Essays in the Theory and Practice of Lex Non Scripta, Volume 1 (University of Wisconsin Press 1994) xiii; A Weis Bentzon, ‘Negotiated Law: The Use and Study of Law Data in International Development Research’ (1994) Roskilde University International Development Studies Occasional Paper No. 13 92, 97 accessed 20 February 2021.

[3] Alison Dundes Renteln and Alan Dundes (eds), Folk Law: Essays in the Theory and Practice of Lex Non Scripta, Volume 1 (University of Wisconsin Press 1994) xiii.

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Research Gap: The Root Cause of Poor Access to Law

Dr. Leesi Ebenezer Mitee — Sat, 20 Feb 2021 04:56:56 +0000

Research Gap: The Root Cause of Poor Access to Law

This research fills the gap in the discussion on the primary cause of the global problem of inadequate access to public legal information, which explains why the problem has persisted despite all the ancient and modern efforts to solve it. It uses practical, verifiable arguments to conclude that the lack of the political will of governments is the primary cause of the problem.

The primary-cause identification guided this study to develop the comprehensive proposal for the formal universal recognition of the right of free access to public legal information as a human right as the proper solution to the problem. The simple reason is that its unequivocal and formal human right-status under its own UN Convention is the only global mechanism that can impose obligations on governments to provide the required free access to their public legal information.[1]

[1] Section 2.2 above.

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Review of the Literature on the Human Right of Access to Law

Dr. Leesi Ebenezer Mitee — Sat, 20 Feb 2021 04:51:13 +0000

Review of the Literature on the Human Right of Access to Law

The main theme of this research borders on the denial of the existing right of free access to public legal information, which manifests in inadequate and, in some cases, extremely poor public access globally. The issue of the status of that right and its effectuality are therefore crucial aspects of the inquiry. Therefore, a review of the specific literature on its status as a human right, which is the main thrust of this thesis (as expressed in the title of the thesis, the aim of the study, the central research question, and research sub-question 1) is what is relevant here. Its status as a legal right is already well-established under the rule of law and in existing literature.

This review examines the existing literature chronologically (beginning with the earliest known works) instead of thematically. As the existing works are few, they are first presented to show the exact scope of the discussion of the right each of them, after which they are all critically reviewed together to reveal the gaps in them. A chronological literature review[1] has the advantage of easily revealing any progressive or historical development of the subject.

[1] For a chronological literature review, see, for example, Kimberley D Edwards, ‘Prospect Theory: A Literature Review’ (1996) 5(1) International Review of Financial Analysis 19–38 accessed 15 April 2019; Shaynah Neshama Bannister and others, ‘Clients’ Expectations and Preferences for Marital Christian Counseling: A Chronological Literature Review and a Contemporary Evaluation’ (2015) 42(1) Social Work & Christianity 63–91 accessed 16 April 2019; Soniya Lalwani and others, ‘A Survey on Parallel Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithms’ (2019) 44(4) Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering 2899–2923 accessed 16 April 2019.

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Preliminary Scope of the Research on the Human Right of Access to Law

Dr. Leesi Ebenezer Mitee — Sat, 20 Feb 2021 04:48:01 +0000

Preliminary Scope of the Research on the Human Right of Access to Law

To be able to investigate the global problem of inadequate access to all the categories of public legal information, the scope of this research is limited to four crucial aspects of access to public legal information that reflect two realities of the contemporary world. First, the persistent emphasis on the protection of human rights, including indigenous rights, and the need for policies and projects to comply with international human rights standards. Second, the use of information and communications technology as an indispensable means of dissemination of all categories information worldwide, including public legal information.

The four crucial aspects of access to public legal information are as follows: the international legal framework for the right of free access to public legal information; easy identification of official public legal information websites for reliable and authentic resources; and the organisation of a country’s multiple official public legal information websites so that people can find them easily. They also include adequate public access to indigenous customary law to provide the opportunity for people to know the applicable rules, as its oral or unwritten nature makes it inherently inaccessible and thereunknown to many people.

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Free Access to Law (Legal Information) is a Legal Right

Dr. Leesi Ebenezer Mitee — Sat, 20 Feb 2021 04:41:06 +0000

Free Access to Law (Legal Information) is a Legal Right

Chapter 4 of Developments in Human Rights Law and the Proposed Human Right of Free Access to Public Legal Information: The New Human Rights-Advocacy Approach and the Ten Criteria for the Formal Recognition of New Human Rights (Volume 1 of the New Human Right of Free Access to Public Legal Information Book Series) has six Sections.

Section 1 presents a brief background to the study, defines the aim of the research, and summarises its contribution to scholarly literature.

Section 2 develops the contextual framework for examining the existence of the right of free access to public legal information.

Section 3 examines the existence of the right of free access to public legal information under the general right of free access to public (government-held) information.

Sections 4 discusses the statutory traditional requirement to publish public legal information with basic accessibility and the statutory modern requirement to publish it with technologically enhanced accessibility.

Section 5 identifies governments and lawmaking intergovernmental organisations as the duty-bearers that have the exclusive legal obligation to provide free adequate access to all categories of their public legal information and discusses the judicial recognition and enforcement of the right-holders’ legal entitlement to that provision.

Section 6 outlines the major findings of the study and concludes that free access to public legal information exists as a legal right and notes its inadequate legal framework. It proposes a comprehensive definition of the right and makes far-reaching law-reform and policy-relevant recommendations for the proper international human rights legal framework for its protection, promotion, and actualisation to enhance national and global free access to all categories of public legal information. The Section ends with a note on the indispensability and universal relevance of the right of free access to public legal information.

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The Human Right of Access to Law: Free Access to Legislation, Court Judgments (Judicial Decisions), Indigenous Customary Law, etc.

Dr. Leesi Ebenezer Mitee — Sat, 20 Feb 2021 04:31:37 +0000

The Human Right of Access to Law: Free Access to Legislation, Court Judgments (Judicial Decisions), Indigenous Customary Law, etc.

This book on the human right of access to law, Developments in Human Rights Law and the Proposed Human Right of Free Access to Public Legal Information: The New Human Rights-Advocacy Approach and the Ten Criteria for the Formal Recognition of New Human Rights, is Volume 1 of the four-volume New Human Right of Free Access to Public Legal Information Book Series. The other volumes are The New Human Rights-Based Huricompatisation Model of Ascertainment of Indigenous Customary Law: Strategies for Adequate Local and Global Public Access (Volume 2); Innovative Technological Mechanisms for Adequate Web-Based Access to National and Global Public Legal Information (Volume 3); and A Model Empirical Study of the Current State of Governmental Provision of Free Access to Nigerian Public Legal Information (Volume 4).

The book offers the first and only comprehensive analysis of the right of every person (including persons with disabilities and indigenous peoples) to know the laws that regulate their conduct and activities, which they are presumed to know and are bound to obey under the rule of law. It devises the universal legal remedy for the grave injustice in the slavish application of the equally universal ancient and modern doctrine of ignorance of the law is no excuse (ignorantia juris non excusat) to punish people world-wide for violating laws that are inaccessible and thereunknowable to them.

It argues that the right to know the law requires free adequate access to all formats (physical and digital or electronic) of the official and authentic versions of all categories of public legal information, including legislation (statute law), court judgments, regulations and orders, law-related public documents, and regional and international legal instruments. It discusses the corresponding moral and rule-of-law exclusive legal duty of every tier of government (local, regional, and national) and every intergovernmental organisation (IGO) with law-making and judicial powers (e.g. the United Nations, the European Union, and the Organization of American States) to provide the required free adequate access to all categories of their laws.

The book introduces the concept of free access to public legal information in the discussion of its key terminology, multidisciplinary perspectives, and historical overview. It uniquely analyses the persistent global problem of inadequate access to public legal information and uses a qualitative cause-elimination technique, developed for the study, to identify its root cause (primary or fundamental cause). That root cause identification provided the basis for the appropriate innovative recommendation for its effective solution—a solution that has never been applied to solve this problem that the world has been experiencing over the centuries.

It examines the existence of the right of free access to public legal information as a bona fide legal right, discusses the theory of legal certainty as its overriding theoretical framework and examines the other concepts that also underpin the right—the duty-right relationship between the State and the people under the rule of law and the doctrine of ignorance of the law is no excuse. Further, it identifies the concept of ascertainment of indigenous customary law that is a specific aspect of the general theory of legal certainty (fully discussed in Volume 2 of the New Human Right of Free Access to Public Legal Information Book Series), the presumption of the reliability of information from official sources, and information findability (both discussed in Volume 3 of the said Series) as relevant concepts.

The book reviews the literature on the existing status of the right of free access to public legal information as a substantive or stand-alone human right, presents some of the relevant characteristic definitions of human rights, highlights the problem of human rights inflation, and examines the existing scholarly and institutional criteria for the formal universal recognition of new human rights. It formulates the new human rights-advocacy approach (NHRAA) to harmonise the existing different sets of criteria and also remedy the inadequacy of those criteria; and discusses the ten onerous criteria of this approach for the formal recognition of any deserving legal right as a human right.

Further, it analyses how the right of free access to public legal information satisfies all the ten criteria of the new human rights-advocacy approach and therefore qualifies for its formal universal recognition as a substantive or stand-alone hu-man right; formulates the pioneering proposal for the United Nations Convention on the Right of Free Access to Public Legal Information; and discusses the essential principles and implementation of the proposed Convention, among which is the counterbalancing doctrine of ignorance of inaccessible law is an excuse.

This book contains far-reaching recommendations and proposals for enhancing free local, regional, national, and global access to all categories of law and law-related public documents. It provides law-reform and policy-relevant guidelines that the United Nations and her specialised agencies; regional intergovernmental organisations; local, regional, and national governments; and policymakers can implement worldwide. Its subject matter is also of interest to all those who are involved or interested in the diverse issues relating to international human rights law, human rights advocacy, indigenous rights, political science, public administration, administration of justice, and public legal information website development worldwide. They include academics and other researchers; students; legal practitioners; judges of local, national, regional, and international courts; law enforcement agencies; civil society; and legal informaticists, legal information technologists, and public legal information architects. The book is relevant to all persons and organisations worldwide, as they are all potential victims of the above-mentioned untold injustice in the application of the universal doctrine of ignorance of the law is no excuse even where the law in question is inaccessible and thereunknowable to any affected person.best swiss made blank jerseys wholesale for cheap. convenient to use is usually a important highlight attached to who sells the best https://www.watchesbuy.ro/. https://de.wellreplicas.to collection. replica audemars piguet royal oak offshore online at acceptable prices. 2017 high end swiss automatic fake rolex for sale for sale. easy to use is a major feature of best swiss best patek philippe replica. cheap https://www.orionvape.com/ e-cigaret butik under $63 works to make spare time memorable also terrific. unquestionably the geneva trace ended up agreeable while best https://silkshome.com/ review. exacting expectations have become the facets relating to https://christiandior.to usa. most of the pursuit of pattern stack of these up to date look will likely be the regulations related to rolex swiss https://www.miumiu.to.

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