THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF YOUTH AND
FAMILY JUDGES AND MAGISTRATES

 

 

Dr Willie McCarney, OBE, JP, President,

175 Andersonstown Road, Belfast BT11 9EA Northern Ireland

Tel: +44 28 9061 5164; Fax: +44 28 9061 8374

Email: w.mccarney@btconnect.com

 

 

 

Supporting

Youth and Family Judges and Magistrates in

Maintaining the Rule of Law

 

 

CORPORATE PLAN FOR THE PERIOD 2002-2006

 

 

 

The IAYFJM is an NGO (Non-Governmental Organisation) with consultative status at the United Nations and the Council of Europe. It was founded in 1928 and registered in Brussels, Belgium. It represents worldwide efforts to deal with the protection of youth and family and with the criminal behaviour and maladjustment of youth. Its membership is comprised of national associations and committed individuals from all parts of the globe, who exercise functions as youth and family court judges or functions within professional services directly linked to youth and family justice or welfare.

 

AIM

 

To support youth and family judges and magistrates in maintaining the rule of law.

 

 

VISION

 

 

The IAYFJM represents worldwide judicial efforts to deal with the protection of youth and family. The IAYFJM aims to:

 

a)      promote the administration of justice and the maintenance of the rule of law, particularly as it affects children and their families;

 

b)      promote the protection of children’s rights;

 

c)      further knowledge of laws and practices as they affect children and their families within the various countries of the world;

 

d)      promote the development of the law affecting children and their families internationally;

 

e)      advance the understanding and development of international law and comparative law, particularly as it affects children and their families;

 

f)        promote uniformity internationally in these areas of law;

 

g)      further international understanding and goodwill amongst all those who provide professional services directly linked to youth and family justice or welfare;

 

h)      assist and cooperate with international, regional or other organisations having all or any of the above mentioned objects.

 

 

The primary role of the IAYFJM is to support judges and magistrates in applying the rule of law in the light of international conventions and local Sate and Federal laws. The IAYFJM aims to:

 

a)      focus on support, education and training of youth and family judges and magistrates to do their judicial job properly;

 

b)      advance legal education internationally in the area of youth and family law;

 

c)      support the provision of advanced studies in these areas;

 

d)      facilitate the exchange of Judges, Magistrates, teachers of law and practitioners who provide professional services directly linked to youth and family justice or welfare.

 

CURRENT STRUCTURE

 

 

The administrative structure comprises:

 

a. The General Assembly

b. The Council

c. The Executive Committee

d. The General Committee.

 

 

General Assembly.

 

The General Assembly convenes every four years at the venue of the Association’s congress.

 

It elects the members of the Executive and Council.

 

It approves any necessary changes to the By-Laws etc.

 

 

The Council.

 

The Council is elected at the General Assembly to hold office until the next General Assembly.

 

The Council, comprising the Executive Committee plus 15 members, administers and promotes the activities of the Association.

 

The Council must meet once per year.

 

The Executive Committee.

 

The president, the vice‑president, the secretary‑general, the deputy‑secretary general and the treasurer form the Executive Committee.

 

The Council delegates the day‑to‑day management to the Executive Committee.

 

The Executive must meet twice per year.

 

The General Committee.

 

The General Committee is made up of the representatives of the national associations, the members of the Council and the honorary members.

 

It stimulates contact between national associations and promotes the establishment of new national associations.

 

It meets once every two years and makes proposals regarding the venues, dates and themes of Congresses.

 

 

MEMBERSHIP

 

 

Members of the Association may be:

 

            a. Ordinary members;

 

            b. Affiliated National Associations;

 

            c. Associate Members;

 

            d. Honorary Members.

 

 

Ordinary members

 

Ordinary Membership may be granted only to judges and magistrates and other persons, who hold or have held office in a youth or family court or are performing similar functions.

 

 

National Associations

 

Membership may be granted to National Associations of judges, magistrates and other persons who have wholly or in part the same objects as the Association provided they have a minimum of five persons.

 

 

Associate Members.

 

Organisations, specialist groups or persons who, by their qualifications in the fields as defined in article 2 of the Statutes, their competence and their achievements can contribute to the work of the Association may be granted associate membership.

 

 

Honorary Members.

 

Persons who have rendered notable service to the Association may be made honorary members by a General Assembly.

 

They do not pay any subscription.

 

Honorary membership confers the right to vote at General Assemblies.

 

 

 

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES (2002-2006)

 

1. Through its Research and Development Committee the IAYFJM will support research which seeks to identify interventions that will stop the violence, abuse and neglect, exploitation and discrimination of children and that will mitigate the impact of those violations.

 

2. The IAYFJM will:

 

a)      identify best practice and garner, collate and disseminate information to members and others as appropriate;

b)      support innovative approaches and provide an international view of what works well in the area of child offending and child welfare.

 

3. The IAYFJM will set up a communications network in order to:

 

a)      facilitate the sharing of information, ideas and expertise;

b)      further the diffusion of knowledge of laws and practices as they affect children    and their families within the various countries of the world;

c)      put all information on-line, in its three official languages, giving members access to studies, statistics, research papers, best practices and other relevant information on issues related to children, youth and family, as well as model legislation and advice on drafting, redrafting legislation;

d)      make the Chronicle available on-line in English, French and Spanish.

 

4. The Association will continue to:

 

a)      participate in the work of the various Council of Europe bodies (committees of experts, parliamentary committees, etc), in events organised by the Secretariat (general information meetings, sectoral meetings) and at meetings of interest groups of NGOs which maintain relations with the corresponding sectors of the Secretariat;

b)      participate in the work of relevant UN bodies.

 

5. The above objectives cannot all be achieved with the current reliance on voluntary support. Professional secretarial backup is essential. To this end the IAYFJM will seek to:

 

a)      secure a permanent office and

b)      secure a permanent funding stream.

 

6. Reaching the targets outlined will require the IAYFJM working in partnership with a number of organisations. The IAYFJM will seek to form partnerships with:

a)      UNICEF

b)      IDE

c)      other groups as appropriate.

 

7. The IAYFJM will not engage in political activities.

 

 

NECESSARY CHANGES TO ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE

 

National Level:

 

The IAYFJM is organised nationally through its National Associations. The IAYFJM will encourage the setting up of a NA in every country where it has members. District Associations may be set up where the size of the country merits it. NAs will be encouraged to form a support network so that they can help and support one another as appropriate, particularly at a regional level.

 

Global Level:

 

The Association is organised globally through its General Committee, its Council and its Executive Committee. The Executive Committee runs the Association on a day-to-day basis. The Executive meets twice each year, the Council meets once each year and the General Committee once every two years.

 

No financial support is available from the Association to enable members to attend meetings. Members must fund their own attendance or find their own individual sponsorship.

 

Because committee members are drawn from around the world it is impossible to find a central venue for meetings that will be convenient for all. Attendance at meetings is expensive. All committee members act in a voluntary capacity and find it difficult to get time off work to attend meetings. Members frequently pay expenses out of their own pocket and use up holiday leave in order to attend meetings.

 

The above applies equally to all members but has particular relevance to the members of the Executive who are charged with the day to day running of the Association and who must meet most frequently.

 

There are no paid staff. The President, the Secretary General, the Treasurer and the Editor-in-Chief of the Chronicle, who between them carry the bulk of the workload, are each responsible for their own administration. There is the added complication since the General Assembly in Melbourne that the President is also the Editor-in-Chief of the Chronicle.

 

If the Association is to grow and expand the above situation must change. It is for this reason that strategic objective 4 listed above is to obtain professional secretarial backup, a permanent office and a permanent funding stream.

 

Regional level:

 

The Association is not currently organised at Regional level. Regional Commissioners will be appointed whose role will be to act as a link between the NAs and the Executive. The Commissioners will support NAs in identifying training needs and will identify experts, nationally and internationally, who will be available to assist in programmes of judicial training.

 

PUTTING THE STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES INTO PRACTICE

 

 

The Executive will seek as a matter of urgency a permanent funding stream. This will require the Executive to identify potential sponsors and to begin immediate discussions on the setting up of a permanent office with secretarial support.

 

Discussions will continue on the drawing up of partnership agreements with various bodies as indicated above. It is likely that funding will be an intricate part of these discussions.

 

The search for a sponsor or sponsors for the Chronicle will continue.

 

The Executive will appoint a new Editor-in-Chief in order to remove that burden from the President.

 

The Executive will seek a sponsor for a web site to facilitate the implementation of objective 3 above.

 

The Executive will seek to focus the work of the Research and Development Committee (objectives 1 and 2). Findings will be made available on the website.

 

The Executive will act as a conduit to facilitate the exchange and sharing of information, ideas, energy, resources and people.

 

The Executive will provide an international viewpoint on major issues and provide an opportunity for judicial personnel to become involved in some of the international organs.

 

The Executive will work with Headquarter Organisations to determine how the Association can help on the ground. Once the ground rules have been established the project will be handed over to a Regional Commissioner who will then have the task of identifying experts and coordinating the programme.

 

 

GOALS:

 

YEAR 1:     Identify potential partners and undertake negotiations with a view to drawing up partnership agreements.

                   Set up an office with secretarial support staff.

                   Appoint Regional Commissioners.

 

YEAR 2:     The Regional Commissioners will establish links with NAs and with the various agencies working on the ground (UNDP, UNICEF, IDE, Terre Des Hommes for example) with a view to identifying what contribution the IAYFJM can make.

                   Set up an eCorridor.

 

YEAR 3:     Identify Regional Panels of experts who will be available to assist in the various training programmes and in the coordination/organisation of training programmes as required.

 

YEAR 4:     Set up regional task forces to assist with training needs.

                   Provide a forum for regular discussion of trends, implementation issues, organizational learning across countries and multi-country initiatives.

           

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