IMPACT Justice

IMPACT Justice is seeking to strengthen legislation and treaty policy in the region through the  drafting of model legislation to assist CARICOM Member States in implementing their legislative agendas.  The Project also sponsors the training of legal drafters to increase the pool of professional legal draftspersons available to the region.

To improve legal services in the region, IMPACT Justice drafted a Model Legal Profession Bill which contains an updated code of ethics, strengthened disciplinary and accounting provisions and a regime for continuing legal professional development.

Under this component, IMPACT Justice is increasing citizens’ knowledge and awareness of their legal rights and of other areas of the law. We are undertaking several activities in this area which target men, women, boys and girls of all ages, and also businesses.

In order to make legal resources more accessible to citizens, IMPACT Justice has upgraded CariLaw, a database of regional caselaw (which is now marketed by JustisOne) and has established the Caribbean Law Review and West Indian Law Journal (WILJ) databases online.

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) refers to any means of settling disputes outside of the courtroom. Forms of ADR include negotiation, conciliation, mediation, and arbitration. Due to the rising cost of litigation and the amount of time taken during the litigation process, IMPACT Justice is seeking to promote the use of ADR as it is a faster medium through which persons can have their disputes settled while at the same time helping to reduce the court’s backlog of cases.