Access to Justice Specialist, Rule of Law, Access to Justice and Security

Originally from Ottawa, Canada, Andrew Harrington is the United Nations Development Programme’s Access to Justice, Rule of Law and Human Rights Programme Manager/technical specialistin the Pacific Office in Fiji.

Andrew has spent most of the past 15 years working internationallyon access to justice-related programming, bringing extensive justice experience in Canada, the United States, Netherlands, Kenya, South Sudan, Honduras, Mozambique, Timor-Leste, the Federated States of Micronesia, Western Samoa, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Tonga, and now Fiji.

As a Canadian-trained lawyer, he brings diverse legal experience, including private sector, government, international NGOs, and extensive experience with the UN system in with UNDP and UNODC. Andrew’s work on justice, security and human rights includes technical positions in diverse legal jurisdictions around the globe, including both common law and civil law jurisdictions. He has worked in external technical advisory roles for government, embedded in internal expert advisory positions with government, and managed external justice programming. He brings particular expertise in the interface between formal and so-called traditional justice system, domestic violence and trafficking in persons (led the consultation and drafting process for the 2017 Law to Prevent and Combat Trafficking in Persons, Timor-Leste - Lei No.03/2017 -Lei da Prevenção e Luta contra o Tráfico de Pessoas e Quarta Alteração ao Código Penal). His last posting was with IOM in Timor-Leste where hemanaged a portfolio of projects, including counter-trafficking in persons, and led the IOM mission in Timor-Leste as Chief of Mission.

Presently with UNDP, Andrew has a regional justice advisory remit covering 14 Pacific Islands, and is managing a portfolio of projects relating to access to justice, rule of law and human rights. Specifically in Fiji, Andrew is working with the Fiji Legal Aid Commission in 3 separate projects entailing legal aid awareness raising and delivery to remote rural and maritimeareas under Project REACH, supporting an early access to justice pilot initiative –the First Hour Procedure–and supporting institutional strengthening under the Fiji Access to Justice Project.

Through involvement in the ILAG Conference, UNDP is seeking to identify opportunities for peer to peer and institutional collaboration to further strengthen the Fiji Legal Aid Commission and the delivery of legal aid overall in the Pacific Region.We are humbled and immensely grateful for the opportunity to participate and contribute to the ILAG Conference.