This activity’s objective is to assist the Court of Justice of the Federal District and Territories of Brazil in the approval and effective application of developmental and application rules related to the use of alternative methods of conflict resolution, especially community mediation and circular processes. Such rules will be aimed at ensuring conditions so that people with disabilities who are impeded in their access to the justice system, can access the judiciary whenever necessary and also have, at the community level, adequate tools and mechanisms for the peaceful resolution of disputes.

The Seminar is part of the Technical Assistance of the Democratic Governance Area of the EU EUROsociAL+ programme to the Court of Justice of the Federal District and Territories (Community Justice Programme) of Brazil for the improvement of access to justice through the national expansion of community mediation before the Courts of Justice.

This action also had technical support of the General Council of Spanish Lawyers, as the winner of a technical assistance contract, within the framework of the EUROsociAL+ Programme.

Migration is a complex phenomenon that has been particularly worrying at the international level due to its scale and speed. Migrants and refugees are experiencing great difficulties and it is necessary to define and develop better conditions so that they can claim their rights outside their countries of origin, where they generally have no support networks. Legal assistance to migrants and refugees is a basic right that can change the futures of these people. Access to justice, also understood as access to rights, is an enabling factor for the insertion and integration of these people in their host societies, in short, for social cohesion and a more inclusive society.

In this context, at the end of 2019, in coordination with the AIDEF, a regional action promoted by Chile, Brazil and Argentina was conceived to guarantee legal assistance and uphold the rights of people in a situation of mobility, consisting of the definition of a regional model and the creation of a regional network for legal assistance to migrants and refugees from the Public Defender’s Offices.

Taking the regional model to a national level, a Protocol for legal assistance to migrants and refugees in border areas has been devised with the Public Defender’s Office of the Union of Brazil .

The protocol provides public defenders with rules and effective protection mechanisms to deal with cases, so as to ensure greater protection for this particularly vulnerable group.