User:Vancecenter/Sandbox

--Vancecenter (talk) 19:40, 16 August 2012 (UTC)

The Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice is an international non-governmental organization, based in the United States, promoting human rights, democratic transition and social justice in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere in the world, through its own programs and the pro bono support of law firms in the United States and the countries where it works.

Mission and Description
The Vance Center strengthens democratic transition by engaging lawyers across borders to advance rule of law and equal access to justice in countries undertaking legal and institutional reform following autocratic rule or civil conflict.

The Vance Center is constituted by practicing lawyers committed to providing and promoting pro bono legal service to support civil society and social justice. Based at the New York City Bar Association, the Center collaborates with law firms, NGOs, law schools and lawyers’ organizations throughout the world.

The Vance Center premises its engagement on the unique role of lawyers as agents of good governance and the public interest: independent intermediaries implementing the procedures and principles that constitute rule of law and advocating for the equality and rights of individuals.

The Vance Center employs the approach to international justice developed and practiced by Cyrus R. Vance, former Secretary of State and President of the New York City Bar Association: collaborative, pragmatic conflict resolution based on ironclad adherence to honest dealing and basic human rights.

The Vance Center is a program of the New York City Bar Association, through its non-profit affiliate. The Vance Center Committee, a special committee of the City Bar, consists of senior partners from major international law firms, as well as senior public sector and in-house corporate lawyers. The Committee supports the staff on program strategy, development and implementation.

Achievements

 * 1) Pro Bono Declaration for the Americas:Beginning in 2003, the Vance Center sought out lawyers in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and other countries who shared the vision of a pro bono legal culture in Latin America. Together, the Vance Center and these partners drafted the Pro Bono Declaration for the Americas, engaged colleagues, law firms, lawyers’ associations and law schools to join them, and established a dozen pro bono clearinghouses throughout the region. :In 2008, the Vance Center facilitated the launch of the Pro Bono Declaration of the Americas (PBDA), the first Americas-wide statement of a lawyer’s responsibility to provide pro bono legal assistance. Over 4,000 lawyers from over 400 law firms and NGOs in 17 countries have signed the Declaration, committing to at least 20 hours of pro bono work per lawyer per year. :The Inter-American Pro Bono Network, headed by the Vance Center and Fundación Pro Bono Chile, now offers an extensive range of legal services to many of individuals and non-governmental organizations throughout the region. Through the Inter-American Pro Bono Network in 2012, a Chilean woman was able to successfully challenge before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights her dismissal as a judge and the denial of custody of her children because of her sexual orientation. The Vance Center's Clearinghouse collaborated with Morrison & Foerster to submit a brief arguing that Chile had violated Atala's human rights by discriminating against her on the basis of her sexual orientation.
 * 2) South Africa Legal Fellows Program :In 2010, South African lawyers from a population historically excluded from the mainstream legal profession established a fellowship network to support junior colleagues and promote pro bono engagement in social justice. These 37 lawyers are alumni of the South Africa Legal Fellows Program of the Vance Center, which selected and placed them in international law firms and corporate legal departments based in New York City. The visiting lawyers work alongside U.S. colleagues and acquire high-caliber legal skills and contacts. The program tackles the legacy of apartheid and spreads the spirit and practice of pro bono legal service, which now is taking root in South Africa.
 * 3) Women in the Profession:The Vance Center developed its Women in the Profession program based on a model at the New York City Bar Association and, with its regional partners, adapted it for Latin American lawyers. Conferences in Buenos Aires, Lima, Sao Paulo, Santiago and Bogota brought together U.S. lawyers, bearing the experience of the diversity programs of international law firms, with Latin American women lawyers who all too often have faced significant obstacles to professional advancement. :Since 2006, hundreds of women lawyers in major countries in Latin America have gathered to discuss challenges to their advancement in the legal profession. For many, these discussions were unprecedented, even unimaginable. Networking, mentoring, peer support, practice specialization and pro bono engagement all were novel and exciting strategies for empowerment.

Current Activities

 * 1) Harmonizing and Developing International Law: Most members of the Organization of American States have signed international and inter-American treaties guaranteeing their citizens basic rights, such as protection from violence against women and access to public services for the disabled. However, many nations do not fulfill these obligations, whether from poor coordination with responsible agencies, lack of resources, or inattention. The Vance Center is joining with advocacy groups and law firms in Latin America and the United States, as well as OAS and UN agencies, to harmonize the laws of individual countries with the provisions of treaties that they have signed. Lawyers will analyze shortcomings and gaps, and advocacy groups will promote treaty compliance, all in collaboration with international and national agencies. In addition, the Vance Center and its partners will engage in drafting new treaties, focusing on issues like rights of the elderly, for consideration by the OAS and its member states.
 * 2) Promoting Environmental Sustainability: Concern for the environment has gone global, along with the challenges to climate, flora and fauna. However, environmental regulations and their enforcement in Latin America have not developed fully. Environmental organizations in the United States increasingly are finding partners in the region, but resources are scarce. The Vance Center has established the Environmental Sustainability Working Group to provide a range of legal resources in support of environmental protection in Latin America. The Working Group engages environmental lawyers from international firms in New York City and Latin America, in consultation with environmental organizations focusing on the region, to identify systemic, cross-border challenges, and design and implement multi-pronged strategies for addressing them. Regulatory reform, collaborative advocacy and private-public partnership are strategies that succeeded in the United States, and now can start in Latin America, to promote remediation, conservation and conscientious stewardship.
 * 3) Supporting International Tribunals: As international treaties have strengthened the rights of individuals to protection by and against their states, tribunals have developed to offer redress based on those treaties: the International Criminal Court; the Inter-American Commission and Court of Human Rights; and the African Commission and Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights. However, these tribunals are challenged by insufficient resources, overloaded dockets and uncertain support by member states. The Vance Center is engaged in strengthening the capacity of international tribunals and the non-governmental organizations that serve them, through several initiatives. It provides training to private lawyers in the rules and procedures of the tribunals, so that they can provide pro bono representation to indigent petitioners. It offers research and analytical support to legal staffs and special rapporteurs, as well as strategic advice on matters like amicable settlement. It brings together judges and practitioners from various tribunals to share knowledge and build solidarity. It advises NGO’s as they learn how to interact with the tribunals.

NGO Legal Support
The Vance Center coordinates delivery of high-caliber legal services to social justice NGO’s in Latin America, Africa and other parts of the world. NGO’s are welcome to submit requests for legal assistance to our staff, who will assist in defining and describing the needs of the NGO’s. In cooperation with international NGO’s and committees of the City Bar, our staff keeps current with legal and political developments throughout the world and thus can evaluate and present the context and purpose of requests for pro bono assistance. The Vance Center maintains a network of lawyers and law firms active in providing pro bono legal assistance. This network includes the firms represented on the Vance Center Committee, as well as the dozen clearinghouses participating in the Inter-American Pro Bono Network, led by the Vance Center and Fundacion Pro Bono Chile and the thousands of lawyers who have signed the Pro Bono Declaration of the Americas. The Vance Center matches NGO’s with lawyers who have the expertise and resources required for the requested representation. For more complex or longer lasting matters, the appropriate match often is a team of lawyers from different firms and countries.