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| Nominations now open for the 2006 Justice Awards |
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Contact: Azadeh Khalilizadeh from FindLaw
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The Law and Justice Foundation has announced that nominations are now open for the 2006 Justice Awards.
According to the Foundation, the Justice Awards recognise the contributions individuals have made to improving access to justice in NSW, particularly for socially and economically disadvantaged people.
Apart from the Justice Awards, the Foundation further improves access to justice in NSW by:
identifying the needs of the disadvantaged through independent research and discrete projects carried out in partner research with universities;
supporting community and other organisations through financial and other support from our Grants program, to produce a wide range of access to justice initiatives such as information booklets, DVDs and workshops;
promoting the use of Plain English to produce understandable legal information;
producing a range of publications which help to promote access to justice activity; and
supporting legal system reforms and new justice initiatives by contributing our research findings to policy development.
Former Chief Justice of the High Court, Sir Anthony Mason, AC, KBE said in his address to the 2005 Law and Justice awards entitled "Democracy and the Law":
"The primary object of the Foundation is to advance the fairness and equity of the justice system, and to improve access to justice, especially for socially and economically disadvantaged people. Because the costs are such that our justice system is expensive and legal aid is not readily available, the work of the Foundation is extremely important."
Sir Anthony Mason further highlighted that a fair and equitable justice system is an "essential element" to a tolerant and compassionate democratic society.
"A fair and equitable justice system goes hand in hand with a system of government which responds to the needs of the people and reflects the qualities of integrity, humanity and respect for human dignity," he said.
2006 Nominations now open!
The Foundation said the following awards will be presented in October 2006, with the first four of these awards open to nominations from the public:
Justice Medal
Aboriginal Justice Award
Law and Justice Volunteer Award
Pro Bono Partnership Award
The Law Society President's Award
Combined Community Legal Centres Group Award
LIAC Centre of Excellence Awards
Closing date for nominations is Monday, 14 August 2006.
2005 Awards give clear picture of calibre of potential candidates
To give you an idea of nominating potential candidates, winners of the Law and Justice Foundation of NSW's 2005 Justice Awards included:
Justice Medal: awarded to Loughman, a specialist children's solicitor for 14 years.
Aboriginal Justice Award: awarded to Elsie Gordon, for her twenty-year commitment to working for women and their children escaping or surviving domestic violence and/or sexual assault.
Law & Justice volunteer medal: awarded to the Criminal Justice Support Network, a project of the Intellectual Disability Rights Service.
Pro Bono Partnership Award: Awarded to Mallesons Stephen Jaques and the National Children's and Youth Law Centre.
Details of nominations and awards night
Closing date for nominations is Monday, 14 August 2006.
For more information on how to nominate, visit the Foundation’s website at www.lawfoundation.net.au
The 2006 Justice Awards will be held on the evening of Tuesday 31 October
Venue: Strangers Dining Room at Parliament House
The Rgt. Hon. Malcolm Fraser AC will deliver the 2006 Law and Justice Address.
The awards are supported by a number of legal bodies and firms including:
NSW Attorney-General’s department
NSW Law Society
National Pro Bono Resource Centre
NSW Bar Association
Combined Community Legal Group (CCLCG)
Legal Information Access Centre
Baker & McKenzie
Blade Dawson Waldron
Chalk & Fitzgerald
Clayton Utz
Mallesons Stephen Jaques
Minter Ellison
Gilbert & Tobin
Freehills
August, 2006
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