How can programmes for strengthening the rule of law be incorporated into post-conflict peacekeeping operations? This study from the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations reviews recent experience with judicial and legal programming in UN peacekeeping operations. A balanced and holistic approach to rule of law reform, which also focuses on strengthening the judicial and legal system, is needed. Achieving a coherent ‘one UN approach’ to rule of law peacekeeping efforts is a priority.
The absence of national judicial and legal capacity is not only a cause of conflict, but also an impediment to its sustainable resolution. Since the best time to work for change is often in post-conflict settings, many peacekeeping operations now involve efforts at legal and judicial reform.
One of the key lessons learned from the study was that rule of law (ROL) should be established as a core priority in mission planning. While there has been improvement in rule of law expertise in mission planning, it still remains a second-tier concern. More comprehensive mandates focusing on specific judicial and legal reforms are also needed. Further findings include the following:
- Implementation should be improved, addressing gaps in local judicial and legal capacity where necessary.
- Rapid deployment is required, plus sufficient judicial positions and increased financial resources for judicial and legal reform initiatives.
- Engagement with host-country ROL partners needs to be strengthened and ROL incorporated into a mission’s diplomatic dialogue.
- Increased coherence is needed. More than ten departments and agencies within the UN system claim some expertise in ROL, and in several instances, different UN system agencies have separate legal reform programmes in the same country.
Effecting change on these findings will require commitment from all UN officials and stakeholders from the most senior levels to the implementing staff on the ground. The Security Council, for example, should issue more specific and robust mandates in the judicial and legal systems area. Further specific recommendations are that:
- Progress on ROL should be a criterion for the evaluation of mission success and for mission downsizing.
- Where required, a more involved role in the policing area should be matched in the judicial and legal systems area. The UN should develop intervention templates for rapid assembly and deployment of resources, which can be tailored to the local needs and circumstances.
- The UN system should have a common doctrine and a single joint programme for judicial and legal reform in the host-countries of peacekeeping operations.
- National actor involvement in reform should not be limited to formal dialogue with the transitional government or its immediate successors, but should also involve independent legal actors, civil society and the population at large.
- Experts in judicial and legal reform should be included as full-fledged members of every mission planning team. ROL units should hire a diverse range of local legal professionals and ensure that they are provided with regular, structured mentoring and capacity-building.
