The Environmental Law Service, Czech Republic, December 2007
The Watchdog Incubator project addresses two serious problems facing watchdog NGOs in New Members States. First is insufficient knowledge of similar organizations and possibilities for cooperation in other Member states. The second problem is decreasing financial sources. The project aims are therefore to boost cooperation between NGOs from different parts of the EU and to work on developing diverse fundraising strategies for watchdog organizations in the region.
“Justice in a globalised economy: What can lawyers do?“ was the name of a two-day conference that took place in Brussels, Belgium 13th - 14th of December this year. Thanks to support of the watchdog incubator project one young Czech lawyer was able to take part in this event and bring new experience.
The meeting, held by the Belgian organisation Avocats Sans Frontiéres (www.asf.be), was aimed to bring together scholars, practicing lawyers and NGOs representatives for sharing their experience in current global legal issues.
During the session dedicated to the field of pro bono work, representatives of PILI (Public Interest Law Institute, www.pili.org), British A4ID (Aid for International Development, www.a4id.org), Belgian Avocats Sans Frontiéres and French SHERPA (www.asso-sherpa.org) targeted their attention on number of subjects. Among issues discussed were the role some of these organisations play as a link between non-profit organisations and lawyers rendering pro bono services (i.e. clearinghouse activities) or current state of pro bono in Hungary and Great Britain. What needs to be emphasized is that certain pro bono activities have no lack of volunteers in the Western Europe. On the contrary, these activities are nowadays considered „trendy“ by young lawyers.
Information, knowledge and contacts gained at the conference might contribute to the development of pro bono programs in the Czech Republic. Public Interest Lawyers Association (www.pilaw.cz), which is one of the partners of the Watchdog Incubator project, has already started to work on it.
Meeting of NGOs and meeting with donors devoted to the networking and fundraising issues took place 27th and 28th of November in Prague. The event was hosted by the CEELI Institute (www.abanet.org/ceeli/special_projects/ceeli_inst/).
First day of the meeting the representatives of the watchdog and advocacy NGOs discussed how to boost the NGO international cooperation. Best methods of networking and obstacles to deeper cooperation were the main issues. The participants identified several preconditions making networking and cooperation more easy. Clear joint goals, good managing structure, capable leaders, personal meetings or ongoing communication were among them. As the main general obstacle preventing effective cooperation the lack of feasible funding was mentioned (e.g. geographic restrictions, formal requirements, no funds for regular traveling etc.).
Second day NGOs and funding institution representatives discussed effective future funding strategies. The issues of independence and credibility was stressed by several speakers in connection with fundraising sources for watchdog and advocacy NGOs. That is why it is quite problematic for watchdog NGOs to take money from e.g. governmental sources or from corporations. The problem of dependence on one type of funding source was mentioned. As one of the potential solution the specialized “watchdog fund” was suggested. Individual donations were seen as one of the most appropriate funding source for watchdog NGOs. Speakers were quite optimistic about possibility to attract some segments of the public for the topics of monitoring and keeping accountable those holding power.
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This Newsletter was prepared as part of the project "From local to global heroes - NGO networking and project incubation in New Member States" implemented by Environmental Law Service. The project is financed by European Commission through program „Support of civil society in the Member States which acceded to the EU on 1st May 2004“. The sole responsibility for the project outputs lies with Environmental Law Service, the Commission is not responsible for any use of the information contained here.
The Public Interest Law Institute (PILI) is pleased to announce that it will host the second annual European Pro Bono Forum in Budapest, Hungary at the Mercure Budapest Buda Hotel on 6-7 November 2008. This year’s event will bring together over two hundred lawyers, NGOs, and academics to explore emerging trends in pro bono law across continental Europe. More information on the PILI webpage.
After comprehensive legal research and by advancing some of the European Parliaments’ recommendations of its resolution on CSR, European Coalition for Corporate Justice together with MEPs, lawyers, and representatives of the civil society, has presented a range of proposals that aim at strengthening EU legislation to provide greater accountability for EU companies when acting abroad at a conference at the European Parliament in B russels. More information on the web of the ECCJ.
After comprehensive legal research and by advancing some of the European Parliaments’ recommendations of its resolution on CSR, ECCJ together with MEPs, lawyers, and representatives of the civil society, will present a range of proposals that aim at strengthening EU legislation to provide greater accountability for EU companies when acting abroad. More information can be found on the ECCJ webpage.
Justice and Environment Network prepared analysis, case studies and position papers on its members monitoring of EU environmental legislation in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary and Poland. The issues covered include Aarhus Convention and related legislation, Environmental Liability Directive (ELD), Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive (IPPC) and Natura 2000. The general conclusion is, that the major problems in all areas are transposition to national legislation and actual implementation of the legislation. In some cases there are other issues as well.
The presentations made by keynote speakers during the “Who will feed the watchdog” meeting were added to the webpage. You can find them in the “Meeting with donors” section.
“Justice in a globalised economy: What can lawyers do?“ was the name of a two-day conference that took place in Brussels, Belgium 13th - 14th of December this year. Thanks to support of the watchdog incubator project one young Czech lawyer was able to take part in this event and bring new experience.
The meeting, held by the Belgian organisation Avocats Sans Frontiéres (www.asf.be), was aimed to bring together scholars, practicing lawyers and NGOs representatives for sharing their experience in current global legal issues.
Viteslav Dohnal
Watchdog Project Coordinator
Environmental Law Service
Prevratilska 330
390 01 Tabor
Czech Republic
phone: +420 381 253 904
email: tabor@eps.cz