For a common language of justice: translating words into deeds

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Sławomir Redo

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For a common language of justice: translating words into deeds

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Introduction

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In 2004, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, in his landmark report to

the Security Council, wrote that in articulating a common language of justice “concepts such as justice, the rule of law, and transitional justice are essential to understanding the international community’s efforts to enhance human rights, protect persons from fear and want, address property disputes, encourage economic development, promote accountable governance and peacefully resolve conflict. They serve both to define our goals and to determine our methods. Yet, there is a multiplicity of definitions and understandings of such concepts, even among our closest partners in the field. At an operational level, there is, for some, a fair amount of overlap with other related concepts, such as security sector reform, judicial sector reform and governance reform. To work together effectively in this field, a common understanding of key concepts is essential”. 2

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PhD in Law; United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Division for Operations, Vienna, Austria. The author is grateful to United Nations colleagues Claire Edwards and Nicholas You for their inspiration and assistance they gave him in the course of conceptualizing, drafting and modifying this article. The views contained in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations Secretariat. [Editor’s note: author of three books, co-editor of three books, including For the Rule of Law. Criminal Justice Teaching and Training @cross the World, European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control, affiliated with the United Nations (HEUNI), Korean Institute of Criminal Justice Policy (KICJP), Helsinki-Seoul, 2008. Published about 45 articles on various crime prevention and criminal justice issues, mostly from the area of the “United Nations studies”, including its treaty and customary law, i.e. on the conduct of law enforcement and prison officials; independence of the judiciary, the right to defence, crime prevention, computerization of criminal justice, computer crime, transnational organized crime. In 19992002 he served as a Senior Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Expert in the Regional UNODC Office for Central Asia (Tashkent, Uzbekistan)]. 2 Report of the Secretary-General on the rule of law and transitional justice in conflict and post-conflict societies (S/2004/616), para. 5.

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For a common language of justice: translating words into deeds by Sławomir Redo - Issuu