The Group is a permanent panel of experts in international human rights and criminal justice with wide expertise in drafting human rights legislation at the national and international levels. In the world today there are many organizations and institutions whose purpose is that of drafting model legislation in human rights that national decision makers can refer to when drafting domestic law. The Group aims at consolidating the knowledge of these organizations and serving as a forum to discuss the development of human rights legislation and the guiding principles of human rights drafting. To promote this aim, The Protection Project organizes conferences and expert group meetings around the world and drafts Model Laws and National Action Plans on human rights issues including a The Elements of a Model Law on Trafficking in Persons, a Model Law on Violence Against Women, a Model Law on Child Protection, and an Action Plan on Trafficking in Persons.
EXPERT GROUP MEETINGS ON DRAFTING HUMAN RIGHTS LEGISLATION
Over the year, The Protection Project has organized and participated in a variety of expert panel meetings aimed at pulling together the expertise of scholars of human rights from all around the world in an effort to draft human rights legislation that is both advanced and comprehensive. The Protection Project has also organized workshops on the principle of human rights drafting with the ultimate goal of strengthening and advancing the technical capacity of national human rights legislators.
Drafting a Model Law on Child Protection
Since September 2009, The Protection Project, in cooperation with the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, has been working on drafting a Model Law on Child Protection aimed at protecting children from all forms of neglect, abuse, maltreatment and exploitation of children. The Model Law is based on the special protection measures of the1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and of its two optional protocols from the year 2000, the Optional Protocol to the CRC on the sale of children, child prostitution and pornography (OPSC) and the Optional Protocol to the CRC on the involvement of children in armed conflict (OPAC). The Model Law includes extensive research of more than 110 national laws on child protection from 65 countries. Over the course of the two-year project, it will be presented at expert meetings in each region of the world to identify issues of concern in that region and discuss suggestions for improvement. The debates at each regional expert panel will contribute to revising and expanding the Model Law.
The current 5th Draft of the Model Law incorporates the outcomes of the discussions of five expert panels. The 1st Expert Panel was held in Singapore from April 28-29, 2010 with 17 child protection experts from governments, other national child protection authorities, international organizations, and from civil society organizations, including child protection organizations and universities in Australia, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand. The 2nd Expert Panel, held in Alexandria, Egypt, on October 19-20, 2010 included 37 child protection experts from law faculties at universities, from legislative divisions, governmental departments, and judicial institutions relating to child and family protection, and social workers representing Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, including 3 representatives from the League of Arab States. The key areas relating to child protection identified in the region and the suggestions made were carefully incorporated in the 3rd Draft of the Model Law which was subsequently discussed in San José, Costa Rica, from June 22-23, 2011. Invitees included 21 child protection experts from 10 different countries in Latin and Central America. The resulting 4th Draft of the Model Law was presented at the 4th Expert Panel conducted in Valencia, Spain, on July 18-19, 2011 including 17 experts from 9 European countries. The most recent Expert Panel, convened in Istanbul, Turkey on September 19-20, 2011 focused on cases from national, regional, and international judicial bodies which serve as a means to highlight the possibilities of implementation of the Model Law.
We solicit your input on the 5th Draft of the Model Law. Please send your comments and suggestions to Ms. Julia Braunmiller at The Protection Project (jcbraunmiller@jhu.edu).
Model Law on Child Protection (5th Draft Sep 2011 – English) (3rd Draft April 2011 – Spanish)
Agenda & Participants of the Expert Panel Meeting in Singapore, April 28-29, 2010
Agenda & Participants of the Expert Panel Meeting in Alexandria, Egypt, October 19-20, 2010
Agenda & Participants of the Expert Panel Meeting in San Jose, Costa Rica, June 22-23, 2011
Agenda & Participants of the Expert Panel Meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, September 19-20, 2011
Drafting a Model Law on Violence Against Women
In February 2009, The Protection Project, in cooperation with The Suzanne Mubarak Regional Centre for Women’s Health and Development hosted an expert group meeting in Alexandria, Egypt with legal scholars in women’s rights, medical doctors dealing with women’s issues and policy makers from countries in the broader Middle Eastern region to comment of a draft Model Law on Violence Against Women. The law addresses topics such as sexual harassment, domestic violence, honor killing, marital rape, forced pregnancy, forced abortion, female genital mutilation, forced prostitution, dowry related violence, trafficking of women, bullying, dating, stalking and sexual abuse of female children. While these various forms may warrant specific provisions, a victim of violence should be entitled to basic rights such as right to shelter and right to an injunctive order that the model law will provide for. The model law thus also covers preventive measures that should be taken in all cases of Violence Against Women.
View the Agenda of the Workshop.
View the powerpoint presentation of the Workshop.
Elements of Legislative Drafting
In March 2009, The Protection Project carried out a workshop in Istanbul, Turkey on “Legislative Drafting”. This workshop was carried out in cooperation with the International Republican Institute (IRI) for representatives of the Iraqi Ministry of Justice. Addressing the concepts of legislative drafting comprehensively, the workshop focused on issues ranging from its scope, definition, and purpose to the importance of form, language and structure. Most importantly, however, the workshop sought to build the Iraqi participants’ capacity in drafting human rights legislation in accordance with international standards and Iraqi human rights commitments, with special attention paid to minorities’ rights, a particularly important human rights issue in the Iraqi context.
View the Agenda of the Workshop.
View the PowerPoint presentation of the Workshop.
The Drafting of Shadow Reports
In January 2009, The Protection Project carried out a workshop in cooperation with the International Republican Institute (IRI) for representatives of Iraqi civil society groups working to advance the rights of women. The workshop focused on building the capacity of participants to successfully reach out to the international system through the shadow reporting mechanism under the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). As such, the workshop explored the reports’ importance as alternative sources of information for the CEDAW Committee in its evaluation of State Party reports submitted in accordance with their reporting obligations under the convention, and provided training on effective shadow report preparation and submission to the CEDAW Committee.
USEFUL RESOURCES
View the list of Human Rights Model Laws and Action Plans.
View the List of Experts in Human Rights Drafting
