Multidisciplinary Forum On Justice To Convene In Vienna, Austria - American Bar Association

Main Category: Litigation / Medical Malpractice
Also Included In: Public Health
Article Date: 29 Jun 2008 - 4:00 PDT

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Place yourself in the shoes of health care workers who aren't able to reach the people who need their help during a pandemic. Picture yourself as a hospital administrator, working without professional regulation and unsure of what damage the lack of policies may do to the patients under your care. Imagine yourself living in a region that is prone to violence.

This is a world and a public health system that is struggling without rule of law. And for many professionals and other citizens in countries around the world, that is a reality. The upcoming World Justice Forum, July 2 - 5 in Vienna, Austria, will bring together public health care workers and a broad spectrum of professional disciplines - business, faith, education, environment and engineering - to develop collaborative solutions to address rule of law issues. Participants from 95 countries on five continents will be represented.

As part of the Forum, a new, comprehensive Rule of Law Index will be unveiled. The index measures adherence to the rule of law in such areas as: discrimination, corruption, access to services and an equitable allocation of resources.

The World Justice Forum, hosted by the World Justice Project, will be held at the Austria Center in Vienna. The Forum will feature Supreme Court justices, Nobel Laureates, former European presidents and other leaders. Participants will also meet as part of breakout sessions by discipline. A full agenda can be found here.

Among the highlights of the conference:

JULY 3

Welcome Remarks and Keynote Address: Why the Rule of Law Matters 9 - 10:30 a.m.

Speakers: - William H. Neukom, President, American Bar Association
- Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland
- Emil Constantinescu, former President of Romania

"The Rule of Law and Poverty Reduction" 12:15 - 1:45 p.m.

Panelists: - Ashraf Ghani, former Finance Minister of Afghanistan
- Anthony M. Kennedy, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice
- Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland

Moderator: Claudia J. Dumas, Executive Director, World Justice Project

Track Two: Rule of Law Index

Panelists: - Mark Agrast, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress
- Juan Botero, Director, Rule of Law Index, World Justice Project
- James Parsons, Director, Substance Use and Mental Health Program, Vera Institute of Justice, New York

Moderator: Dr. Samuel Muller, Director, Hague Institute for the Internationalisation of Law

[Note: Additional information on the Rule of Law Index may be found here.]

Track Six: Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Rule of Law: The Example of Africa

Panelists: - Kemi Asiwaju, Regional Representative, Altus Global Alliance/CLEEN Foundation, Abuja, Nigeria
- Nemata Majeks-Walker, founding President, The 50/50 Group of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone
- Martin Manuhwa, President, Zimbabwe Institute of Civil Engineers, Harare, Zimbabwe
- Onesmo Matei, Country Coordinator for Tanzania, The Global Challenge, Arusha, Tanzania

Moderator: Adama Dieng, Assistant Secretary-General and Registrar, UN Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Arusha, Tanzania

[Note: The World Justice Project has held multidisciplinary outreach meetings on five continents leading up to the Forum. Participants in the Accra, Ghana meeting were invited to submit proposals for small projects involving multidisciplinary collaborations in their communities to advance the rule of law. About a dozen projects have been funded, and several of these will be showcased at the World Justice Forum.]

Throughout the conference, there will be breakout sessions by professional discipline, by topical area (such as human rights, anti-corruption, etc.) and by region. These breakout sessions are intended to advance collaboration and then lead to the development of concrete proposals to build the rule of law.

Small Group Breakout Sessions, by Discipline 4 - 6 p.m.

Group One: Medicine and Public Health

Moderators: - Mengistu Asnake Kibret, President, Ethiopian Public Health Association
- Georges C. Benjamin, Executive Director, American Public Health Association

JULY 4

Topical Plenary Sessions 9 - 10:30 a.m.

Track Twelve: Public Health

Panelists: - Peter Boyle, Executive Director, Interagency for Research of Cancer, Lyon, France
- Barbara Hatcher, Secretary General, World Federation of Public Health Associations, Washington, D.C.
- Ilona Kickbusch, Professor, Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva, Switzerland
- Pekka Puska, Director General, KTL-National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland

Moderator: David Byrne, former EU Commission for Health and Consumer Protection, Dublin, Ireland

Note: Breakout Sessions continue, 11 a.m. - noon, and 1:30 - 3 p.m.

JULY 5

[Note: Prior to the closing remarks, sessions will cover the reports of the regional breakout sessions held earlier in the conference.]

Summary and Conclusion: Next Steps for the Rule of Law - Charge and Adjournment 3 -. 3:15 p.m.

Speakers: Hilario G. Davide Jr., former Chief Justice of the Philippines, Manila William H. Neukom, President, American Bar Association

The World Justice Project's sponsors include the World Federation of Public Health Associations, People to People International, Karamah: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights, the International Trade Union Confederation, the International Chamber of Commerce, Human Rights Watch, the Association of International Educators and the American Society of Civil Engineers. The American Bar Association, the world's largest volunteer professional association, is a founding member of the project.

Participation in the World Justice Forum is by invitation only. For registration by media and citizen journalists, visit http://www.abanet.org/media/events/wjf_form.shtml. Additional information is at http://www.abavideonews.org/ABA517/

With more than 413,000 members, the American Bar Association is the largest voluntary professional membership organization in the world. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.

http://www.abanet.org