Vance Center Authors Report on Justice in the Americas Amidst COVID-19

The Vance Center, together with the International Legal Assistance Consortium, published the report “Justice in the times of COVID-19, Challenges to the Judiciary in Latin America & the Caribbean”. The report mapped how pandemic-focused emergency measures across the region have impacted the practical functioning of the judiciary and in turn individual rights and access to justice.

The current COVID-19 crisis differs from previous challenges to judicial institutions because it is long lasting and indefinite. The report focused on these differences in identifying good practices, trends and gaps in how governments and the judiciary itself have responded to the crisis, and recommending how they can continue guaranteeing individual rights and access to justice, while also protecting judicial independence.

The report relied on more than 30 interviews that the Vance Center conducted in the summer of 2020 with trial, appellate, and high court judges in selected jurisdictions, to supplement research by pro bono counsels recruited through the Pro Bono Network of the Americas. Acting as coordinating counsel for the project, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP consolidated the information from these law firms and the interview responses in a memorandum, serving as the basis for the report.

The report is available in English and Spanish here.

The Vance Center and ILAC will present the report at a webinar on December 7 at 10am EST, with the participation of the UN Special Rapporteur on Independence of Judges and Lawyers Diego García Sayán, Supreme Court of Trinidad & Tobago’s Justice Gillian Lucky, and Chief Justice of the High Tribunal of the State of Mexico Ricardo Sodi. The webinar will be held in Spanish and English with simultaneous translation.

UPDATE

The recording of the webinar is available here: