Self-reliance


Citizens seem to have been given more and more responsibilities – as employees, as patients and as consumers, for example. In many areas the government’s role is changing to that of facilitator and regulator. How do citizens manage their new role? Are solidarity and justice in society not at risk?

ING Charity Fund supports Microjustice project in Kenya


The Charity Fund for ING staff (écht©goed doen) has donated 50,000 euros to the Microjustice Kenya Project, which the Law School is currently running in Kenya as part of the Innovating Justice (IRI) platform. Alumnus Peter Smits, regular lawyer at ING with a PhD in access to justice, was responsible for submitting this project. After an active campaign among ING staff, he managed to secure fourth place in the election. This won him (in association with the Tilburg University Fund) a donation of 50,000 euros for this admirable project.

The donation of 50,000 euros will enable them to:

  • help 4,000 poor people with everyday legal problems (rent, child/partner support, dismissal);
  • train 20 facilitators;
  • develop fair, economical and swift tailor-made procedures for the three most common legal problems in Kenya (divorce, industrial conflicts and land ownership issues);
  • develop a business model for the microjustice facilitators.

For many years now, the Tilburg Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies of Civil law and Conflict Resolution Systems (TISCO) has been researching the problems that inaccessible justice systems cause to citizens and businesses, and trying to devise practical solutions. One of the conclusions from their research is that the traditional strategy for creating access to justice simply does not work in developing countries.

At the same time, it has also been shown that a so-called bottom-up method can be more efficient, effective, accessible and sustainable. This method involves developing products and services based on the concrete needs of the target group. TISCO's Microjustice project focuses on people’s most urgent legal requirements, such as identity documents, protection of property, solutions to family conflicts and stable working and business relations.