Round table, Cluj Bar: Free access to justice for vulnerable groups, in a democratic judicial system

Equality and Human Rights Action Centre (ACTEDO), the Center for Legal Resources (CRJ) and the Cluj Bar Association will organise on Thursday, November 24, 2022, between 1:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m., at the headquarters of the Cluj Bar Association, on Pavel Roșca Street, no. . 8, a round table, entitled:

Free access to justice for vulnerable groups, in a democratic judicial system. Barriers, legislative loopholes and solutions

The event is addressed to lawyers, magistrates, academics from law faculties and other specialists in the field and aims to bring together a number of experts to discuss ways to improve access to justice for vulnerable groups in Romania. The starting point of the discussions will be a report - launched for the first time in Cluj - on the main barriers and legislative gaps in access to justice for vulnerable groups in Romania. The report was elaborated by Att. Dan Chertes, Cluj Bar, and Georgiana Iorgulescu, Executive Director of the Center for Legal Resources(CRJ), with contributions from Alexandra Columban, ACTEDO's Executive Director.

During the round table, the authors will present the legislative barriers and gaps in the civil and criminal field, gaps in the application of legislation for the protection of crime victims, especially EU Directive 29/2012, as well as the status of pro bono lawyering in Romania and internationally. Specifically, the following topics will be addressed:

• An interdisciplinary perspective on access to justice for vulnerable groups;
• Legislative and administrative barriers to access to justice for vulnerable groups in civil matters, especially regarding public legal aid;
• Access to justice for victims of domestic violence and victims of crime;
• Pro bono lawyering – the need for its regulation and legislative proposal.

Also, those present will be able to discuss based on the set of legislative recommendations, developed by the authors of the report, to improve the identified gaps. We want these two round tables to materialize in an increased awareness of these issues and, hopefully, a commitment to the proposed measures.

For lawyers from the Cluj Bar, participation in the round table is equivalent to 5 professional training points. Access to the event is free.

The authors of the report and facilitators of the round table are:

• Dan-Sebastian Chertes, Lawyer in the Cluj Bar since 2007, with 12 years of experience in criminal law cases, adviser in the Cluj Bar Council since 2018, editor-in-chief of the Cluj Bar Journal and editorial secretary of Penalmente Relevant Magazine.
• Georgiana Iorgulescu, Executive Director of the Center for Legal Resources (CRJ) and lawyer in the Bucharest Bar since 2004, with over 17 years of experience in analysis and legislative proposals in the field of public law, especially constitutional law, criminal law, criminal procedural law and law administratively, from the perspective of respecting fundamental rights and freedoms.
• Alexandra Columban, Executive Director of ACTEDO, with over 8 years of experience in research and training, as well as public policy analysis in the field of human rights.

Att. Flavia Maier, Dean of the Cluj Bar Association, will address a welcome speech at the opening of the round table.

The activity is part of a series of two round tables, the second one to take place in Bucharest, on December 8, 2022.

Please confirm your participation to us by Tuesday, November 22 at the email address info@actedo.org.

ACTEDO, CRJ and the Cluj Bar

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The activity is part of the project INTEGRIS: Integrated Support for Human Rights, developed by the Equality and Human Rights Action Centre (ACTEDO), in partnership with the Centre for Legal Resources (CLR), with financial support from Active Citizens Fund Romania, programme funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants Grants 2014 -2021.

Working together for an inclusive Europe.