Inventory of UN Rule of Law Initiatives

A new report of the UN Secretary-General provides an inventory of the current rule of law activities undertaken by some 40 agencies or entities of the United Nations:

"There is a separate entry for each rule of law activity (or series of related activities) performed by a United Nations entity. Under each entry, the inventory provides the title and a brief description of the activity or activities concerned, as well as an indication of the subject matter in which the activity is carried out (the field of law concerned, such as administration of justice, crime prevention and criminal justice, human rights law, international terrorism), the beneficiaries of the activity (for example, government officials, judges, parliamentarians, non-governmental institutions, the general public) and, if appropriate, the specific circumstances under which the activity is performed (in particular, whether it is conducted in a conflict or post-conflict situation). Each entry also includes, when available, information on the mandate providing the legal basis for, or authorization to carry out, the activity concerned, the person or entity authorized to initiate or request performance of the activity, the entities involved in the implementation and/or monitoring of the activity and those with which the entity performing the activity cooperate for this purpose, and the method of financing the activity."

It is dated from March 2008, but it was released only yesterday on UN Pulse, the news blog of the United Nations Dag Hammarskjöld Library in New York.