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<h2><b><a name="2b"></a>RESTORING THE RULE OF LAW IN FRAGILE
STATES</b></h2><font size=2><i>by Carolyn Bull, School of Humanities and
Social Sciences, University of New South Wales at ADFA
<a href="mailto:carolynandrob@optusnet.com.au">
carolynandrob@optusnet.com.au</a><br><br>
</i>In fragile states across the Asia-Pacific, Australia has pursued
increasingly ambitious initiatives to promote regional stability, good
governance and sustainable development. The environment in which it is
working is complex and sometimes hostile. Fragile states typically
struggle to safeguard their citizens from internal or external threats to
security. Political relationships are often personalised and
unpredictable. Non-state actors may exercise informal political authority
in competition with the state. Criminal justice institutions are almost
always weak. Society may be fragmented and characterised by unreconciled
grievances, psychological or physical trauma, and disruption to everyday
life. In extreme cases, complex emergencies may erupt, marked by public
health catastrophes, large-scale people displacement and the threat of
extinction to minority cultures. <br><br>
In such environments, it may be extremely difficult to establish
democratic institutions. This demands not only elections, parliaments and
effective public administration, but the confidence of all members of
society in their own safety and in fair and equal treatment by the state.
In turn, this rests on the ‘rule of law,’ a principle of governance in
which all persons and entities, including the state, are accountable to
public laws that are equally enforced and independently adjudicated, and
which are consistent with international human rights norms and standards.
By safeguarding citizens against abuse, including by the state, and by
moving conflict into a non-violent and predictable institutional
framework, the rule of law helps create a climate of stability and trust
in which citizens may participate in democratic processes without fear of
reprisal. <br><br>
Beyond the complicated and resource-intensive tasks of reforming laws,
judiciaries and police systems, embedding the rule of law in fragile
states involves transforming attitudes from acceptance of violence,
inequality and impunity to support for peaceful conflict management, a
culture of moderation and an expectation of equal treatment by the state.
While a well-enforced legal system may help ensure compliance, adherence
to any rules-based system ultimately relies on the extent to which people
commit voluntarily to it. <br><br>
In fragile states, national government and donor strategies have
sometimes underestimated the magnitude of these challenges. They have
tended to equate building the rule of law directly with enacting new
legislation and establishing judicial, police and prison services
according to models found in donor states. While such institutions are
crucial, they are unlikely to take root unless relevant actors believe
they will provide real solutions to real problems, and are willing to
engage in political processes of transformation that may be complex,
largely domestic, and time consuming. To be effective, strategies need to
confront the difficult questions of how state institutions are to be
legitimated, how they will interact with pre-existing indigenous
institutions, such as customary law, and how they will intertwine with a
range of political, social and cultural influences.<br><br>
Links:
<ul>
The Fragile States Group
(<a href="http://www.oecd.org/dac/fragilestates" eudora="autourl">
www.oecd.org/dac/fragilestates</a>) is a forum of the OECD’s Development
Assistance Committee. It brings together experts on governance, conflict
prevention and reconstruction from bilateral and multilateral development
co-operation agencies to facilitate co-ordination and share good practice
to enhance development effectiveness in ‘fragile states’. Australia is a
member of the forum.
The Carnegie Endowment has material on the rule of law and promotion of
democracy:
<a href="http://www.carnegieendowment.org/programs/global/index.cfm?fa=proj&id=101">
http://www.carnegieendowment.org/programs/global/index.cfm?fa=proj&id=101</a>
See also the Judicial Systems Monitoring Program site on East Timor
<a href="http://www.jsmp.minihub.org/index.htm">
http://www.jsmp.minihub.org/index.htm<br><br></a></font><x-sigsep><p>
</x-sigsep>
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Dr. Michael Leach<br>
Research Fellow<br>
Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation<br>
Faculty of Arts, Deakin University<br>
221 Burwood Hwy, Burwood, VIC 3125 Australia<br>
Ph.:(61-3) 9244 3923 Fax: (61-3) 9244 6755<br>
Email: michael.leach@deakin.edu.au<br>
<a href="http://www.deakin.edu.au/icg" eudora="autourl">
www.deakin.edu.au/icg<br>
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