A Conversation with the CEO & Program Director of the Legal Pact
The following is a discussion between Legal Pact for the Future CEO, Anna Maddrick, and Program Director, Lauren Banham, about their vision for the organization:
Anna: Lauren, can you talk a little bit about what drives you in your work with Legal Pact for the Future?
Lauren: I think I’m driven by a fundamental belief that people should be involved in the systems that shape their lives. People should be able to access and understand the structures which have a direct impact on them, and I think the law needs to play a part in protecting people and planet in a way that links these elements together and does so explicitly.
Lauren: Anna, I know that your role with ecocide law has driven you to feel that this work is really important. What is it about Legal Pact for the Future that ties in and extends beyond that work?
Anna: A lot of my thinking when starting the ‘Legal Pact for the Future’ was rooted in my experience with the ecocide law movement. Ecocide law, the idea that mass harms against nature should be a criminal offence, is based on an express consideration of human and environmental rights, as well as their interconnections.
More particularly, ecocide law speaks to the fact that there is no justice without enforceable law. I think in the same way, in considering a reformed international legal architecture as the Summit of the Future conference of the United Nations intends to implement, it is essential to ensure that international reform is expressly guided by human and environmental rights that can ensure fair standards and access to justice.
The Legal Pact therefore reflects the ideas that underlie ecocide law, such as the interdependent relationship between people and nature, as well as the need for enforceable standards, but intends to take this conversation further by promoting the intersectionality of judicially enforced human and environmental rights across all of international society.
Anna: Lauren, I know that we both agree that ensuring real sustainable development all over the world depends on actually enforced human and environmental rights. What is it that the Legal Pact wants to do to further this goal?
Lauren: The Legal Pact aims to bring together People, NGOs, Businesses and Governments to work together on solution-oriented terms for delivering justice. We know that 90% of the Sustainable Development Goals depend on judicial enforcement, but the imperative role of the courts is often neglected in international discussions. We hope that by linking these four areas of international society we can drive a conversation to ensure that common international values, such as those contained within human rights and ecocide law, are in fact enforceable.
Lauren: Anna, the work of the Legal Pact therefore speaks to ensuring enforceability of law. Can you speak a little bit more as to why enforceability means a focus on the courts?
Anna: I think there is a tendency for those not working in legal sectors to consider law alongside politics and not appreciate their notable differences. Courts represent the third branch of most countries’ constitutional order (alongside the executive and the legislative), and are tasked with enforcing and interpreting legal rules. As the arbiters of justice, unless courts are appropriately funded and respected, adequate enforcement of human and environmental rights will remain lacking.
The rule of law therefore depends on an impartial and fair judiciary, with access to justice ensured on a continuum from local to international courts. It is vital that the international community understands and appreciates the role and relevance of the courts. We hope that the work of the Legal Pact can work to increase trust of judicial institutions.
Anna: Lauren, can you speak to the values that we hope to promote with theLegal Pact?
Lauren: When we founded the Legal Pact, we knew we wanted it to provide linkage for people and organisations working to promote the need for human and planetary rights. What we can do in isolation is great, but we believe we are stronger together. Our work continues to be underpinned by accessibility and inclusivity; we believe that everyone should be able to engage with the law and understand how it impacts our lives.
Lauren: Anna, what do you envision for the work of the Legal Pact for the Future?
Anna: It is my hope that the Legal Pact will be able to foster conversations across international society about the importance of judicial enforcement. In so doing, it is important we also promote values of good governance such as transparency, knowledge-sharing, adaptability and collaboration. The United Nations’ highly anticipated Summit of the Future conference offers an invaluable opportunity to promote these dialogues, and I know we at the Legal Pact will be working closely alongside the Coalition for the UN We Need to ensure that conversations within this conference reflect human and environmental rights.
More generally, I hope that the Legal Pact succeeds in bringing together People, NGOs, Businesses and Governments to find common grounds and collaborate on legal solutions that prioritise effective enforcement and can ensure real protection for people and nature.
Anna: Lauren, perhaps you can conclude by highlighting what you hope forthe work of the Legal Pact for the Future?
Lauren: It is my hope that the work of the Legal Pact highlights the need for an increased awareness of the distance between people, institutions and law. By uniting the voices of people passionate about enforceable rights, we can ensure that powerful multilateral institutions no longer ignore the need to renew the relationship between people and the rule of law
