Open Government: A Platform for Access to Justice

By Paul Maassen and Tonu Basu, OGP Support Unit

Open government brings to mind open data, access to information, and anti-corruption efforts - but what it should also bring to mind is access to justice. OGP’s civil society team talks some of the successes of access to justice using OGP as a platform - and how other countries can use it, too. Read more here.

OGP’s Paul Maassen writes for the Guardian on six ways for citizens to assert power outside the ballot box - using open government initiatives.

Three ways the Paris Declaration can advance Goal 16

By Stacey Cram, Namati

It’s been nine months since the 4th OGP Global Summit and the signature of the Paris Declaration, six years since OGP was founded, and two years since the announcement of the Sustainable Development Goals. In different ways, these agreements and partnerships are seeking to improve access to justice. Find out how they can scale up and help each other here.

Understanding Your Rights in Police Custody

By Fair Trials

Letters of Rights help citizens in the European Union understand their legal rights when under arrest or detained. While they’ve been useful, the team at Fair Trials is looking at ways to improve access to justice by simplifying and improving this simple tool for citizens. Read more here.

As our odd-year countries send in new OGP Action Plans, we’re taking a look at some of the commitments we’ve featured this year: the successful, the interesting, and the withdrawn.

• Mongolia: fighting to make beneficial ownership standard
• Liberia’s land transparency commitment: setting right a painful legacy
• How an OGP commitment is working to prevent gender-based violence in Brazil
• Public financing of NGOs in Latvia
• Subnational commitments in Madrid and Buenos Aires

Is there an interesting commitment being implemented in your country? Is it changing the lives of citizens? We’re all ears - submit a story on OGP’s new website!

Reflections on our time in Washington

By Paul Bradley and Emma Harvey, Open Government Scotland

In July, OGP’s fifteen Subnational Pioneers met in Washington, D.C. to discuss seven months of progress in their first-ever Action Plans. Paul Bradley, from the Scottish Government, and Emma Harvey, from the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organizations, discuss what was learned at the workshop and how Scotland is carrying it forward. Read more here.