Support for U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers
New York University
- Program Civil Society
- Program Initiative Access to Justice
- Grant Amount $300,000
- Grant Period June 1, 2026–May 31, 2029
- Location New York, NY, United States
- Geographic Focus World
About this grant
This grant will support the work of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers. As an independent U.N. expert, the Rapporteur, based at the Bernstein Institute for Human Rights at New York University, connects civil society, justice users and political actors to address justice issues. In her second mandate, she will continue to focus on four main areas: 1) reimagining access to justice through legal empowerment and support for community justice workers; 2) protecting legal actors under threat; 3) strengthening judicial independence to combat corruption; and 4) defending democracy. In 2023-26, the Rapporteur produced six official reports for the U.N. General Assembly and the Human Rights Council. She visited six countries for formal justice assessments and made over 400 submissions to national governments addressing a wide range of challenges to the rule of law. These included over 100 rapid-response letters and appeals addressing threats to justice actors.