Five months ago, with the onset of COVID-19 my co-founder at Future Law Institute Anja Blaj and I decided to make a courageous call to lawyers all over the world to join us in mapping Global COVID-19 Policy Responses (GCPR). We wanted to make sense of the rapid changes taking place to come up with recommendations to fill the transnational legal gap to address global challenges.
We have been overwhelmed by the response of incredible, generous lawyers worldwide who have given their time on a volunteer basis to this project. Now with over 180 lawyers, over 10000 rows of policy data we have created the worlds largest COVID-19 policy response database.
Three months ago, the UN made a call for proposals for new model provisions for member states to address pandemic situations. One of the Future Law Collaborative’s Networked Communities of Practice (NCoP) on Trade and Procurement produced model crisis procurement provisions to be including in trade agreements. Out of hundreds of submissions we found out that our paper and proposals were singled out as an excellent contribution which the UN will be working with us to develop.
Please see link to our paper entitled : ‘Measures to Improve Transparency and Cooperation in Government Procurement & Trade in Times of Crisis’ https://www.unescap.org/…/100%20Final-Team%20Anja%20Blaj-UK…
This is bottom-up non-state-centred legal system intervention. We can do it. Every member of that volunteer team received a Certificate of Excellent Contribution for their efforts in this paper over the pandemic.
The lesson is, despite how frustrated we may feel with our current governance systems, we must not throw our hands up in desperation and quit. We can make a difference, if we just decide to give one or two extra hours a week toward collective social responsibilities rather than our personal or professional advancement.
If you want to join this unique, pathbreaking collaborative for legal system change, register now for the Future Law Virtual Summit (FLVS) 2020 – Negotiating the New Normal – Oct 16th – 20th.
We are an interdisciplinary group focused on legal system change so you do not need to be a lawyer to participate. To attend the summit and learn how you can join us visit www.negotiatingthenewnormal.com.