J4A Scopes and Objectives

    Scopes

• Creating an entity that offers legal and social support and guidance to all European citizens, in accordance with the letter and the spirit of the law, respecting internal and European legislative provisions, especially for those on the brink of poverty or below it, women and other groups living in vulnerable situations, thereby ensuring their access to free legal assistance, guidance, support, and counseling. The objective thus aims to improve the availability, accessibility, and quality of legal assistance services within the justice system.
• Creating activities and projects aimed at producing concrete results regarding the increase of the population’s legal awareness, through legal education in training environments, schools, high schools, universities, and other similar educational settings. The goal can also be achieved by providing guidance and/or legal assistance services, with detailed explanations so that the interested person can understand the legislator’s purpose and the values being protected.
  There is also a focus on legal knowledge initiatives for individuals in vulnerable situations, as well as on strengthening their capacity to absorb and understand matters related to access to justice.
• Increasing public awareness of legal, constitutional, European, and international rights, as well as the right to a fair trial among vulnerable populations, such as those living in or below the poverty line, women, and other groups in vulnerable situations, as well as arrested, accused, and detained persons, and victims and survivors of crimes.
• Creating a working group, implementing programs, and building an online platform with professionals from the legal field and related domains in Romania and especially with the member states of the European Union, with the aim of developing proposals to improve justice for minors and various categories of disadvantaged persons, as well as providing support, guidance, counseling, and legal assistance in various areas.
• Creating a liaison entity between ordinary citizens, without legal knowledge, and local, central, and European authorities. The aim is to represent the interests of civil society, ordinary members, and associates in relation to the state and European legislative bodies.
• Carrying out legal actions to defend citizens’ rights and freedoms when they are violated through specific actions, within legal limits.
• Legally and procedurally notifying local, national, European, and/or international administrative bodies regarding issues that endanger the normality of life, free access to justice, and the violation of fundamental rights, including (but not limited to) the right to equality before the law (equality of rights), the right to life and physical integrity, the right to free movement, the right to intimate, family, and private life, the right to inviolability of the home, the right to confidentiality of correspondence, the right to information, the right to education, the right to access culture, the right to health protection, the right to live in a healthy environment, the right to vote, the right to be elected, the right of association, the right to strike, the right to private property, the right to inheritance, or issues affecting liberties enshrined in the constitution or the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
• Ensuring free access to justice, supporting those who cannot afford to access justice through material and human assistance, carrying out programs to promote the help offered, and addressing other social situations that impact the lives of European citizens.
• Ensuring respect at the international level for gender equality before the law and public authorities, without discrimination based on race, sex, age, social status, religion, disabilities, sexual orientation, etc.
• Providing legal, moral, and material support against any form of violence directed at women, persons with disabilities, or those with special needs.
• Involvement in public life through assistance, guidance, and counseling programs, as well as through the drafting of correspondence and actions in relation to public authorities, to support fundamental rights and freedoms.
• Establishing connections with the local, national, and European political environment in order to protect the interests of members and European citizens, aiming to legally influence the creation of legislation and regulations in favor of and for the protection of citizens.
• Carrying out legal, civil, or social activities to request changes to laws, regulations, rules, and any type of act issued by local, national, and European public authorities that concern various social issues and affect in any way the life, rights, and freedoms of citizens. This will include draft laws, meetings with decision-makers, public actions, and any other necessary activities.
• Creating a civil social hub so that the association becomes a real support for civil society, a place where people can bring proposals and ideas that the association will transform into written or physical actions, which it will promote before the competent authorities.
• Using specific methods, in compliance with the applicable legislation, drafting a bill that allows NGOs with a legal profile, through their own lawyers, to provide not only legal advice but also legal representation before any judicial bodies, with the aim of supporting disadvantaged persons or those in a temporary state of need who choose to receive this assistance.
• Integrating a partnership with national and European probation services to support convicted persons, with the aim of maintaining community safety, socially rehabilitating offenders, and reducing the risk of committing new crimes.
• Developing projects in the social field, such as: projects to combat violence and hatred, projects aimed at psychosocial counseling for persons discriminated against based on race, ethnicity, sex, disability, communicable diseases, or other known grounds of discrimination, projects with the goal of preventing or combating situations of difficulty or vulnerability that may lead to marginalization or social exclusion, etc.
• Carrying out projects and actions for intercommunity development.
• Guiding, facilitating, and carrying out actions to help any natural or legal person establish NGOs on Romanian territory by providing templates, legal and practical guidance, filing documents, paying fees, and other similar services that support the development of the non-governmental organization sector.

   Objectives

• As representatives of the civil society, we support individuals, with different needs in their relationship with governmental public entities, in order to address the complex issues posed by justice (mostly we support disadvantaged groups or needy individuals, as well as for those who cannot or cannot afford to defend themselves).
• Contributing with concrete proposals (resulting from collaboration among specialists) to the development of standardised procedures at European level regarding justice for disadvantaged or needy individuals, as well as for those who cannot or cannot afford to defend themselves.
• Developing training programs for specialists working in the field of justice for disadvantaged or needy individuals, as well as for those who cannot or cannot afford to defend themselves.
• Organizing interdisciplinary working groups with the aim of improving justice for disadvantaged or needy individuals, as well as for those who cannot or cannot afford to defend themselves.
• Organizing conferences on the subject of justice for disadvantaged or needy individuals, as well as for those who cannot or cannot afford to defend themselves.
• Collaborating with international organizations operating in the field of justice for disadvantaged or needy individuals, as well as for those who cannot or cannot afford to defend themselves.
• Supporting scientific activities for specialists in the field of justice for disadvantaged or needy individuals, as well as for those who cannot or cannot afford to defend themselves.
• Publishing journals containing case studies and expert opinions related to justice for disadvantaged or needy individuals, as well as for those who cannot or cannot afford to defend themselves.
• Establishing collaboration protocols with state or civil society structures with competencies in the field of justice for disadvantaged or needy individuals, as well as for those who cannot or cannot afford to defend themselves.
• Developing good practice guides in the field of justice for disadvantaged or needy individuals, as well as for those who cannot or cannot afford to defend themselves.
• Proposing improvements to cooperation mechanisms to make them as efficient as possible, and developing proposals for enhancing and streamlining cooperation mechanisms between national and international authorities with competencies in the justice process for disadvantaged or needy individuals, as well as for those who cannot or cannot afford to defend themselves.
• Developing projects aimed at accessing European funds to carry out activities for the improvement of justice for disadvantaged or needy individuals, as well as for those who cannot or cannot afford to defend themselves.
• Collaborating with public authorities at the local and national levels to implement programs and projects related to justice for disadvantaged or needy individuals, as well as for those who cannot or cannot afford to defend themselves.
• Combating violence based on discriminatory criteria related to gender, sex, social status, religion, disability, and sexual orientation in the online environment, a new form of violence arising from technological progress. Developing programs to address violence based on gender ideologies in the online environment, facilitated by technology, through a coordinated approach that brings together various stakeholders involved in women’s rights online, with the aim of sharing best practices and experiences, as well as supporting initiatives focused on the development of technical solutions, concrete projects, and research on gender-based violence in the online environment facilitated by technology.
• Strengthening the capacity of local authorities to effectively fulfill their roles and responsibilities by assisting them in designing and implementing more inclusive plans, policies, and projects, and in accessing resources that would support the active inclusion of disadvantaged communities (e.g., the Roma community) at the local, national, European, and international levels.
• Supporting, establishing, and implementing mechanisms and processes that promote and ensure good governance standards and the commitment of relevant stakeholders to effective integrated development efforts covering the areas requiring action (education, employment, healthcare, social protection, housing, urban development, etc.) for disadvantaged groups (e.g., the Roma community).
• Actions and projects that ensure the mobilization of disadvantaged communities within the European Union (e.g., the Roma community), focusing on identifying the needs and priorities for improving the living conditions of the targeted communities, translating these priorities into action plans, and securing funding.
• Actions, projects, and participation in projects concerning women’s rights, disadvantaged communities, environmental justice, as well as combating corruption. The objective is to strengthen connections and collaboration among stakeholders from various sectors by sharing resources, knowledge, and expertise. Additionally, the aim is to establish strong relationships between NGOs and relevant governmental bodies, leading to more effective representation and appropriate political engagement, which could result in greater influence over decisions affecting the targeted issues. These actions will be carried out in accordance with EU values, including the promotion of the rights of women and disadvantaged communities.
• Conducting community awareness and legal education for vulnerable populations through mobile legal clinics, in-person sessions, and virtual events (depending on access options)
• Producing beneficiary-specific legal informational materials regarding legal aspects, rules, procedures, and support options relevant to the targeted vulnerable groups, in Romanian, Romani, and/or other local languages used by the beneficiary groups.
• Participating in the training and expansion of local, regional, and national networks of legal aid practitioners.
• Providing and facilitating legal guidance offered to other NGOs and/or directing them to other NGOs that can offer similar or more specialized services.
• Providing legal consultations and legal advice (outside of court) in specific cases, through in-person meetings or appropriate and secure communication channels, at any stage of the process or during the criminal prosecution and/or investigation phase.
• Ensuring the basic minimum needs for vulnerable categories who have been taken into preventive custody, informing their family or dependents (e.g., families living in other countries), and monitoring the respect of their procedural rights.
• Establishing connections with the political environment and the business sector (generally decision-making circles) to support the protection of fundamental values and rights.
• Conducting audits offered to local, national, and European authorities to ensure the maintenance of the principle of institutional efficiency, thereby helping to maintain an optimal level of public services that inspire confidence in the civil society represented by the association.