Lawyers hope to repair Haiti's justice system
UN Peacekeepers maintain crowd control at Silvio Cator stadium where food and water is being distributed on Jan. 31, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Kier Gilmour/Canwest News Service /
In an effort to help piece together what they say is a shattered justice system — both literally and figuratively — some Canadian lawyers are planning a "judicial Red Cross" in earthquake-ravaged Haiti.
Lawyers Without Borders, a non-profit organization based in Quebec, says it will send volunteers to the Caribbean country in the coming weeks to work with Haitian lawyers and provide legal services for residents — anything from resolving property claims to long-term projects, such as rebuilding the penal system.
"There are loads of basic needs that still need to be satisfied, and we understand that that's the main priority now," said Pascal Paradis, executive director of LWB Canada, whose European branch has worked at rebuilding projects in Timor, Kosovo and Rwanda.
"However, very soon it will be of the utmost importance that the justice system is able to cope with the situation. Experience has shown in other countries that if you want to take the road of recovery, including institutional and state recovery, and if you forget justice, you hinder your chances of having true development."
The Canadian organization, which has operated in Haiti for the last four years, plans on setting up "justice shelters" in tents where people can receive legal advice on everything from stolen furniture and property, to conflicts of all kinds.
It also hopes to work in conjunction with Haitian professionals over the long term to help them re-establish the legal and penal systems, said Paradis.
Many buildings in Port-au-Prince were destroyed in the earthquake, including the courthouse and national penitentiary. The justice system which operated prior to the earthquake was "already dire," said Paradis.
"That's the unfortunate truth. There was a problem of lack of resources and training . . . there were problems of corruption, there were problems of having laws and regulations that were really, really old and not responding to basic needs. So there was a need for reform of local laws and institutions," he said.
"The system has been shattered, basically, and there's a lot of work to be done to put it on the road to recovery, but then maybe there's an opportunity to look more profoundly at the problems the system faced before, and work on them."
Prior to the earthquake, the Haitian legal system was based on the civil law model from France, said Paradis. Most volunteers who will be going to Haiti will likely hail from French-speaking Quebec, which operates on a civil system but uses common law in criminal matters, he said.
"This initiative could be one stone in this new path toward reform and is certainly meant not to be just a temporary patch," said Paradis.
The Canadian Bar Association has announced also that some immigration lawyers from across the country have agreed to wave initial consultation fees for Canadians wishing to sponsor family members or carry out adoptions of Haitian children.
The consultations, which include a meeting with a lawyer and help with documentation, usually cost about $3,500 to $5,500, said Stephen Green, chair of the CBA's National Citizenship and Immigration Law Section. A list of participating lawyers can be found on their website.