Rule of Law Promotion and Security Sector Reform: Partners or Rivals?

The articles in this issue were originally presented at a Workshop held in The Hague on 28-29 April 2011. The Workshop was organised by HiiL, Warwick Law School and the Folke Bernadotte Academy (Sweden). Participants included academics and development practitioners who were invited to reflect upon the similarities and differences between rule of law promotion and security sector reform (SSR). Rule of law promotion has been on the development agenda for nearly three decades. During this period it has evolved from a modest and mainly technical set of legal activities into an ambitious interdisciplinary enterprise that embraces broad issues of governance and institutional reform. This comprehensive approach to rule of law promotion has been prompted partly by a greater awareness among development agencies that legal technical assistance needs to take into account wider social, political and economic issues. Today, the focus of rule of law promotion also includes non-state institutions and community organizations that play a role in delivering justice in developing countries. By the end of the 1990s, as the rule of law promotion agenda expanded, the international community became aware that eff ective poverty reduction and sustained economic growth require well-trained and accountable security institutions. Improvements in the quality of security institutions is critical since poorly trained or badly managed security forces are often responsible for the worst human rights violations. Moreover, bad policing and weak justice and penal systems result in vulnerable groups suff ering disproportionately from the eff ects of crime and insecurity. As a consequence, the United Nations, through the Secretary General, has unequivocally confirmed that the commitment to promoting the rule of law throughout the world entails a commitment to assisting in the establishment of eff ective and accountable security institutions (United Nations Secretary General, Securing peace and development: the role of the United Nations in supporting security sector reform, UN Doc. A/62/659–S/2008/39, January 2008). Today, the United Nations is a major player in security sector reform. © 2012 T.M.C.ASSER PRESS and Contributors.