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Global Alliance for Justice Education United Nations ECOSOC Consultative Status Policies and Guidelines

Timeline and Approval

In 2022 the GAJE steering committee authorized select GAJE members to produce and submit an application to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for special consultative status.  On Aug. 8, 2023 the UN formally approved GAJE’s application.  Following this approval the GAJE Steering Committee created the GAJE UN-ECOSOC Committee to develop policies for the organization’s engagement with the UN, monitor the relationship, propose action items for the Steering Committee with respect to this status, and prepare and submit required reports to ECOSOC.

What is ECOSOC?

ECOSOC is a forum for the coordination of the social, economic, and environmental development work of the United Nations. The Council brings together the work of “a diverse family of  subsidiary  bodies  and  UN  entities  dedicated to sustainable development, providing overall guidance and coordination.”  ECOSOC  at  a  Glance . The Council includes a variety of regional commissions as well as functional commissions, expert bodies, and specialized agencies focused on particular issues.

What is Special Consultative Status?

ECOSOC is the only UN body with a formal process for consultation with non- governmental entities. The framework for this consultation is governed by  ECOSOC  Resolution 1996/31  which defines three different kinds of consultative status: General, Special, and Roster. General Consultative Status is reserved for organizations whose work covers “most of the activities of the Council and its subsidiary bodies” (Resolution 1996/31 ¶ 22), meaning that these are usually very large NGOs that engage in a wide variety of social and economic relief and development work.  Special Consultative Status may be granted to “organizations that have a special competence in, and are concerned specifically with, only a few of the fields of activity covered by the Council and its subsidiary bodies, and that are known within the fields for which they have or seek consultative status.”  Resolution 1996/31 ¶ 23.  GAJE has been granted Special Consultative Status (Roster Status is granted to organizations that are granted neither General or Special Status, but whom the

Secretary-General feels can make “occasional and useful contributions” to the work of ECOSOC. Resolution 1996/31 ¶ 24).

The main differences in the rights and responsibilities of organizations in General and

Special Consultative Status are the following: (1) organizations with General Consultative Status may propose agenda items to the ECOSOC high level segment and meetings of ECOSOC subsidiary bodies, while this privilege is not granted to organizations in Special Consultative Status (Id. at ¶¶ 28 and 34); (2) organizations with General Consultative status can submit longer written statements than those in Special Consultative status to ECOSOC (2,000 words v. 500 words) and its subsidiary bodies (2,000 words v. 1,500 words) (Id. at ¶¶ 31 and 37); and 

(3) organizations in Special Consultative Status have more limited opportunities to make oral presentations at meetings of the ECOSOC Council (Id. at ¶ 32(a)).

Whatever the status of the organization, Resolution 1996/31 notes that any “arrangements for consultation made with each organization should relate to the subjects for which that organization has a special competence or in which it has a special interest.” Id. at ¶ 20.

Ways to Engage

 Grounds  Passes  for  UN  Offices  in  New York,  Geneva,  and  Vienna

Every NGO with consultative status may receive up to 7 annual passes for its representatives to gain access to UN premises in each of its principal locations (meaning 7 persons for New York, 7 for Geneva, and 7 for Vienna).  Out of the 7, two of these passes are reserved for the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Administrative Officer of the organizations. Requests for passes that do not include the nomination of at least one of these officers will be denied.  UNITED NATIONS, WORKING WITH ECOSOC: A NGOS GUIDE TO CONSULTATIVE STATUS

18 (2018),  here .  Passes can be requested online here:  https://ecosoc.un.org/ en/ngo/ grounds -pass .

 Attendance  at  Meetings

Organizations in Special Consultative Status may “designate authorized representatives to sit as observers at public meetings of the Council and its subsidiary bodies” including UN commissions and other “subsidiary organs of the Council.”  ECOSOC Resolution 1996/31, Part IV, ¶ 29 and Part V, ¶ 35.

The Council itself conducts meetings on a July to July cycle including meetings of the following segments: Operational Activities for Development Segment (Late Feb.-Early March), Humanitarian Affairs Segment (June), “a High-level Segment held in July that includes the three- day ministerial meeting of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF)” (July), the Development Cooperation Forum (every other year), the Forum on Financing for Development (April or May), dedicated coordination and management meetings (held periodically throughout the year), the Integration Segment (May), informal Youth Forum (Jan.), and informal Partnership Forum (April). WORKING WITH ECOSOC at 4.

Subsidiary bodies of the Council meet regularly throughout the year.  A list and description of many of these subsidiary bodies can be found in WORKING WITH ECOSOC at 9–15.

 Written  Statements

An organization in Special Consultative Status may submit written statements to the Council and/or to Commissions and other subsidiary bodies of ECOSOC related to “subjects for which these organizations have a special competence.” ECOSOC Resolution 1996/31, Part IV, ¶¶

30–31 and Part V, ¶¶ 36–37.  Such statements will be circulated by the Secretary-General after a consultative process between the organization and the Secretary-General’s office.  Id. at ¶¶ 31(b– c), 37 (b–c).

A written statement by an organization in Special Consultative Status should be limited to

500 words if submitted to the Council itself, Id. at ¶ (31(e)), and 1,500 words if submitted to a

Commission or subsidiary body, Id. at ¶ (37(e)).

 Oral  Presentations  During  Meetings 

Organizations in Special Consultative Status may only make oral presentations at meetings of the Council where no subsidiary body of the Council has “jurisdiction in a major field of interest to the Council and to organizations in special consultative status” and where the Council Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations recommends such an oral presentation. ECOSOC Resolution 1996/31, Part IV, ¶ 32(a).

Organizations in Special Consultative Status may initiate oral consultation with one of the Council’s Commissions or subsidiary bodies and may be heard at one of the public meetings of the same.  Id. at Part V, ¶ 38(a).

 Production  of  Special  Studies  Upon  Request 

From time to time Commissions or other subsidiary bodies of the Council may solicit organizations in consultative status to produce special studies in an area where the organization has “special competence.” ECOSOC Resolution 1996/31, Part V, ¶ 39.  In such instances, the word limits for written statements noted above do not apply.  Id.

 Consultation  with  ADHOC  Committees  of  the  Council

From time to time certain ad hoc committees of the Council may meet between sessions of the Council.  Organizations in Special Consultative Status may consult with these ad hoc committees following the same provisions outlined for consultation with Commissions and other subsidiary bodies outlined above.  ECOSOC Resolution 1996/31, Part VI, ¶ 40

 Participation  in  International  Conferences  Convened  by  the  UN

Upon application and subject to the approval of UN member states, organizations in Special Consultative Status may receive accreditation to attend international conferences convened by the UN.  ECOSOC Resolution 1996/31, Part VII, ¶¶ 41–42.

 Consultation  with  the  Secretariat  (ECOSOC Resolution 1996/31, Part X, Pas. 64–70)

Finally, the Secretariat of the Council is to be organized in such a way that organizations in consultative status with ECOSOC may consult directly with “officers of the appropriate sections of the Secretariat on matters in which there is a mutual interest or a mutual concern.” ECOSOC Resolution 1996/31, Part X, ¶ 65. This kind of direct consultation with officers of the Secretariat may be initiated by either the organization or the Secretary-General.  Id.

Policies and Guidelines

-     Participation in Events and Meetings: The GAJE UN-ECOSOC Committee shall monitor meetings and events of the Council and its subsidiary bodies and may propose to the Steering Committee attendance by GAJE representatives at those meetings and events that have a particular resonance with GAJE’s mission and purpose.  Consistent with its designation in Special Consultative Status, GAJE should only send representatives to meetings and events that pertain to its particular expertise, especially those related to

justice education or “forms of social, economic, political and human rights” that may be addressed through justice education. See GAJE Constitution § 2. 

-     Nominating Representatives: On an annual basis and on January of every year, The GAJE UN-ECOSOC Committee shall nominate to the Steering Committee members to obtain ground passes for UN Offices and to attend events and meetings of ECOSOC and its subsidiary bodies.

-     Letters of Support for Third Party Funding to Attend Events and Meetings: GAJE will not provide funding for individuals to travel to and attend UN events on GAJE’s behalf.  However, at the request of the GAJE UN-ECOSOC Committee, the Steering Committee may approve the issuing of a letter of support for select GAJE members who have access to other institutional financial support (i.e. academic research/conference participation funding) to attend such events.

-     Attending Meetings and Making Oral Statements – All GAJE representatives approved by the Steering Committee and with GAJE UN Passes can attend meetings and events on behalf of GAJE. GAJE UN-ECOSOC Committee members may volunteer to be the GAJE designated authorized representatives to sit as observers at public meetings of the Council and its subsidiary bodies including UN commissions and other subsidiary organs of the Council. GAJE representatives will observe meetings and report observations to the GAJE UN-ECOSOC Committee. If more GAJE UN-ECOSOC Committee members desire to attend than are permitted to attend, the Committee will decide who will attend by majority vote. 

-     In special circumstances, such as special UN Conferences/meetings that allow individuals without UN Passes to attend, for example, the Commission on the Status of Women, and where additional members need to be invited or provided the opportunity to attend, the

list of members will be reviewed by the GAJE-ECOSOC Committee and approved by the Steering Committee. Such members will not have the mandate to make any ad-hoc comments or statements on behalf of GAJE. Participation shall be restricted to attendance.

-     All attendees to all UN events, meetings, and conferences including GAJE representatives and regular members shall submit a report to the GAJE-ECOSOC Committee of the substance of the meeting and make recommendations for next actions.

o Ad-hoc comments and oral presentations at meetings: The GAJE UN-ECOSOC Committee should notify the Steering Committee of an opportunity to make an

oral statement/presentation at an upcoming meeting or event. GAJE UN- ECOSOC Committee shall prepare all intervention/documents/statements and present them to the Steering Committee to approve its final form before it is submitted to the relevant body.

-     Written Statements and Special Studies: Only the GAJE Steering Committee may speak on behalf of the organization. Thus, all written statements, oral presentations and/or special studies produced and submitted to the Council or its subsidiary bodies shall be commissioned by a majority of the Steering Committee and the Steering Committee must also grant final approval to any such statements or studies by a majority vote prior to submission to ECOSOC or any of its subsidiary bodies. The GAJE UN- ECOSOC Committee may notify the Steering Committee of opportunities or requests from the UN for the submission of written statements and special studies, or the delivery of oral presentations, and may request that the Steering Committee commission such statements, studies or presentations.

 

-     Submission of Quadrennial Report to ECOSOC: The GAJE UN-ECOSOC Committee shall produce the quadrennial report to be submitted to ECOSOC as a required

component of its special consultative status. The report will be submitted to the Steering Committee which may approve the submission of the report to ECOSOC by a majority vote. The GAJE UN-ECOSOC Committee shall be responsible for ensuring that the report is drafted and submitted in compliance with ECOSOC rules and procedures.

 

-     The Nature of GAJE’s Statements and Engagement with ECOSOC: As an organization focused on the particular issue of justice education, GAJE neither endorses nor condemns political parties, candidates, or platforms, nor will GAJE make general statements on global political issues.  Rather, GAJE’s statements and engagements with the UN will be limited to affirmative advocacy of policies and strategies that advance access to justice education or promote social, economic, political and human rights through justice education for legal practitioners and lay persons alike. GAJE Constitution

§ 2; GAJE Mission Statement.

For enquiries email to:

Committee Chair @ gajeungaje-ecosocstat@gaje.org

We are proud to recognize the outstanding individuals and organizations selected for the 2025 GAJE Awards. These honorees represent exceptional contributions to justice education around the world—demonstrating innovation, leadership, and a deep commitment to equity and access to justice. Honorees will be presented with their awards at the 12th GAJE Worldwide Conference 2025 in Warsaw/Poland.
Click here to learn more about this year’s awardees.

The registrations are open (deadline: until 31st May, late fee applies 1st - 30 June) for the 12 GAJE World-Wide Conference, organized in cooperation with the European Network for Clinical Legal Education (ENCLE), between 23-26th July 2025 (Train the Trainer on 22nd and 27th July 2025) @ Lazarski University in Warsaw (Poland). 

Please see all details on the conference website: https://gaje.lazarski.pl/

CALL FOR PROPOSALS opened for the 12th GAJE WWC Conference, organised between the 22-27 July 2025 together with the ENCLE and FUPP at the Faculty of Law of Lazarski University, in Warsaw, Poland. For more information go to Call for Proposals. 

DEADLINE: 15th February 2025!!

The GAJE Steering Committee and the Conference Planning Committee are pleased to announce that the 12th GAJE Global Conference will be held in co-operation with the Faculty of Law of Lazarski University, in Warsaw, Poland. 

The Conference will take place between 23rd and 26th 2025. The Training of Trainers is planned on 22nd and 27th July 2025 (day before and after the conference). 

The conference is planed as a in-person participation only. The ‘Call for Proposals’ and registration details will be announced soon at https://gaje.org/Upcoming-Conferences. More information are coming soon...

Professor David McQuoid-Mason, Professor Emeritus of the Commonwealth Legal Education Association (CLEA) and GAJE Director Emeritus, recently received the ALM Law.Com International: The African Legal Awards 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award, hosted by the Corporate Counsel Association of South Africa (CCASA) in Johannesburg, South Africa on 1 September 2023. The Ceremony formed part of the International Corporate Counsel awards for different categories of law firms and lawyers from all over Africa, and was attended by over 300 lawyers. He was introduced by one of the judges for the Award, Attorney Ntsako Msomi, Senior Legal Counsel at the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), an ex-law student of his.

In his acceptance speech McQuoid-Mason when thanking the organizers, mentioned that it was a particularly pleasing event because it was also the 50^th Anniversary of when he founded the then University of Natal, Durban (now University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban) Campus Law Clinic, which led him to assist with the establishment of law clinics in over 60 countries in Africa and world-wide, and Street law programmes in over 45 countries. In addition, it was the 40^th Anniversary of when he became Dean of Law at the University of Natal, that led him to Nelson Mandela, whose son was a law student, and participation in the United Democratic Front and Mass Democratic Movement during the Struggle years. He also paid tribute to the other former South African awardees of the Lifetime Achievement Awards, all of whom he knew personally and admired: Former Constitutional Court Justice Albie Sachs; Former National Chair of Lawyers for Human Rights Advocate George Bizos; Former Deputy Chief Justice Digang Moseneke; Former Public Protector Advocate Thuli Madonsela, Former Chief Justice Moegeng Moegeng; and former Constitutional Court Justice Edwin Cameron.

Shortly before Ceremony McQuoid-Mason spoke to one of his ex-students, Attorney Greg Nott, of Norton Rose Attorneys, who had acted pro bono for Castor Semenya for many years, and to whom McQuoid- Mason had provided an opinion on the Medico-legal aspects of Semenya’s partly successful appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.

McQuoid-Mason said of the occasion, that there were four things that impressed him greatly: Firstly, it was encouraging to see how many entries there were from law firms and individuals from all over the African continent. Secondly, it was impressive how many so-called ‘White’ South African law firms, were empowering and promoting young Black African lawyers, and elevating some of them to very senior positions. Thirdly, he was pleased to learn that some of the South African law firms had branches in other parts of Africa. Finally, he was pleasantly surprised and humbled when about 20 of his ex-law students, many of whom were in very senior legal positions, came up to him afterwards to congratulate him on his Award.

The GAJE conference may take place either in July 2024 or December 2024 or July 2025, preferably in one of the regions and/or countries that the Worldwide GAJE conferences has not been held in recently (the list of the past conferences is on the GAJE website: http://www.gaje.org/ conferences/past-conferences/)

Proposals should come from a person or group of persons that would constitute the core of the Local Organizing Committee, including one person who may serve as the chair or co-chair of the Conference Planning Committee.

The proposal needs to be submitted with on the Request for Proposals to host the 12th Worldwide GAJE Conference Form.

Call for Proposals (12thWWconference).docx

The submission would include the following information:

1) Information on past experience in organizing international conferences, including what size and which partners were involved.

2) Local infrastructure for the conference (meeting rooms, hotels, dining, etc.).

3) Estimate of the cost for the following items:

4) Support expected from the host institution (financial and/or in-kind), including use of support staff, phones, fax, etc.

5) Proposed outline of local content for the conference program. Although not required, proposals that include supporting an ongoing and/or challenging law school project or initiative to reform legal education and/or to promote social justice and community legal empowerment in the host country or region will be favored.

6) Although not required, proposals will receive favorable consideration if they include one of more letters of support from foundations or other potential sponsors who would fund some or all of conference expenses such as food and facility costs (thus enabling registration fees to be used primarily to provide travel scholarships).

Deadline for proposals will be April 3, 2023.  All proposals will be reviewed by the Site Selection Committee, which will select a winner and runner-up.  The final selection will be made by the full Steering Committee.

We are also ready to answer any questions you may have about the process, including modifying the information provided, if necessary, given your particular situation.

Please send the conference proposals to those 2 addresses: odinakaonyelagi@nulai.org, ulistege@gmail.com

NOTE: IF YOU NEED A SIGNED COPY OF THIS MEMO ON GAJE LETTERHEAD, PLEASE WRITE TO odinakaonyelagi@nulai.org.

With kind regards,

Odi Lagi & Uli Stege

Co-Presidents of GAJE

The Steering Committee is delighted to announce the 11^th GAJE Worldwide Conference in collaboration with IJCLE and Stellenbosch Faculty of Law, which will be held in Stellenbosch, South Africa, the week of December 11-15, 2022.  

The conference will be held in a hybrid format, consisting of in-person and virtual participation.

Mark your calendars. Registration details and call for proposals will be announced soon at www.gaje.org.

More information coming soon……..

Thank you.

Conference Planning Committee

We are happy to announce our jointly Worldwide Online Conference organized by GAJE in partnership with the International Journal of Clinical Legal Education (IJLCE) and the Association for Canadian Clinical Legal Education (ACCLE) on 16th, 17th and 18th June 2021. The conference is hosted and organized with the technical support of the Northumbria University (UK).  We attach full details about the conference and look forward to being able to connect with you this year.  

The conference will feature opportunities to connect with justice educators from around the world using the new symposia format and our usual interactive workshops, both especially designed for online interaction. Please see the call for proposals for the submission requirements. 

The pandemic sadly ‘challenges’ our ability to meet in person but we sincerely hope we have turned this into an opportunity for everyone from everywhere to take part this year.

Best wishes, 

Uli Stege

(on behalf of the Conference Planning Committee)

GAJE Co-presidents Lisa Bliss and Filip Czernicki announced the establishment of the Menon Award for the Advancement of Justice Education Worldwide, named in honor of the late Professor Dr. N.R. Madhava Menon who passed away on May 8, 2019.  The announcement was part of a program celebrating Dr. Menon during the opening plenary session of the 10th Worldwide Conference at Bandung.  Widely known as “the father of modern legal education in India,” Dr. Menon was devoted throughout his career to the twin causes of social justice and legal education.  As both a professor and a legal education reformer, he sought to integrate legal aid and legal education by championing clinical legal education.  In India, he established a system of national law schools with a curriculum formed around educating law students for social justice; through international collaborations with legal educators around the world he was a leader in promoting a global clinical movement.  He was thus remembered by a panel of colleagues and friends as the “guiding light” GAJE.

Frank Bloch, Professor Emeritus at Vanderbilt University (USA), was named by the GAJE Board of Directors as the inaugural recipient of the Menon Award.  Professor Bloch was among an international group of law teachers who founded GAJE in the late 1990s and has been a part of the GAJE leadership throughout its history.  Together with Dr. Menon, he co-chaired GAJE’s Inaugural Worldwide Conference held in Thiruvananthapuram, India, in 1999.

10th Worldwide GAJE Conference held in Bandung, Indonesia on 4-10 December 2019

GAJE’s 10th Worldwide Conference, celebrating GAJE’s 20th Anniversary, took place in Bandung, Indonesia from the 4th through the 10th of December 2019 on the campus of Pasundan University.  As with past worldwide conferences, the conference consisted of two parts: a General Conference, with plenaries and concurrent sessions on various themes and topics (4-8 December), and a Training-of-Trainers (TOT) workshop on practical aspects for implementing justice education, including clinical teaching methods (9-10 December).

Further information about the conference is available on the current 10th Conference Page; a full report on the conference will be posted on the Past Conferences Page when the report has been completed.