Intervention by the Permanent Representative of the Argentine Republic, Amb. Martín García Moritán

December 4

 

Let me start by thanking the Permanent Missions of Georgia to the United Nations for organizing this event and underlining that for ARGENTINA is an honor to be able to cosponsor it, together with other partners and friends.

When we are approaching one third of the allocated time for the implementation of the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, it is important to increase the number of platforms for sharing good practices at national level on identifying creative ways to address the SDGs.

ARGENTINA has been particularly focus on efforts to close the justice gap and therefore I am glad to be able to present some ides today.

[As it was mentioned by Ambassador Kaba], in the international sphere, ARGENTINA has worked in a close partnership with the Netherlands and Sierra Leone to contribute grant justice for all.

Our three countries are very different and we come from different corners of the world. Nevertheless, we have created a strong partnership in leading the Task Force on Justice of the Pathfinders to accelerate the implementation of SDG16.

At the national level, we believe there are three things we need to do to provide equal access to justice for all: 1) to place justice at the heart of sustainable development; 2) to put people at the center of justice systems; and 3) to move from justice for the few to justice for all.

In addition, to close the justice gap, we must challenge some basic assumptions about the core functions of the domestic justice systems and how to improve them. Therefore, we need to promote: ​​​​​​​

• ​​​​​​​A result-oriented management of justice
• a perspective based on legal requirements and a “whole-of-person” approach
• the support to multi-stakeholder and inclusive partnerships
• the improvement of investment in access to justice; and
• the development of legal studies for up-to-date legal frameworks

In ARGENTINA we have invested heavily in such a different approach with the creation of over 90 Centers For Access To Justice, which provide legal services to those who are furthest behind and serve as a gateway to other services provided by the government. Recently we have expanded the reach of those centers to the most remote provinces via mobile units.

Besides, our Ministry of Justice has adopted a philosophy of OPEN JUSTICE in all its actions and has created specific programs to that end. The Program Justice 2020 incorporates the values of participation and transparency.

It is a platform for face-to-face and on-line dialogs through thematic working groups for the purpose of fostering and ensuring active transparency and citizen and institutional participation in designing, implementing and following public policies, projects and legislative initiatives on innovation and judicial modernization.

A systemic approach in justice policies is fundamental to fulfill the 2030 Agenda, particularly for the SDG16 that sets forth the need to build more just, pacific and inclusive societies.

We hope that the policies of access to justice implemented by ARGENTINA could be useful good practices of a whole-of-society approach where the justice services are brought closer to the people who need them. By these means, the Argentinian justice sector is building the institutional architecture to achieve a greater social inclusion.

I thank you