Honouring the Story; Reinforcing the Social Function of Judging

Activity: Lecture / PresentationAcademic

Description

As in many jurisdictions in the world, judges and other legal professionals in The Netherlands have launched various innovative initiatives with the aim of improving the social added value of the functioning of the courts and the legal system as a whole. In common law countries, the ideas and practices behind these initiatives might be referred to as ‘responsive judging’, ‘problem solving courts’, or ‘community courts’. There are differences though, due to the slightly different position that courts occupy in civil law systems, and due to the particular characteristics of the Dutch legal system. The umbrella term that the Dutch legislature and judiciary have adopted for these initiatives, is ‘Maatschappelijk Effectieve Rechtspraak’ (MER), which might be translated as 'Societally Effective Judging'.

In their presentation, Esther van Voorst and Cindy Seinen discussed the origins and meaning of the term “MER” and will highlight some of the Dutch initiatives. They will address the intended social benefits of these initiatives, against the backdrop of the roles more traditionally assigned to judges and other actors in civil procedures. What can we reasonably expect them to contribute to the re-healing of the broken story that is a conflict?”
Period7 Jul 2022
Event titleThe XXXVIIth Congress of the International Academy of Law and Mental Health (IALMH)
Event typeConference
LocationLyon, FranceShow on map
Degree of RecognitionInternational