Tällberg Leadership Award

Dear friends, I am humbled and working hard to process receiving this prestigious award. I deeply thank the Tällberg Foundation for seeing importance of the the cause I have worked on almost my entire professional life, together with a growing group of amazing people: access to justice for all.

For me, justice is intimately connected with human dignity. Being seen. Being heard. Being taken seriously. It does not necessarily mean winning; you may not get your way but, mostly, if you were seen and heard you can move on. Sometimes justice is harsh because that is needed to protect someone. The bigger point is: if you are granted rights by law you must be able to invoke them. We know: having to live with injustice eats self-worth, feeds anger, and can make you sick. It also costs the economy a lot. We need the ability to invoke rights and settle disputes for all the Sustainable Development Goals, including the critical shift to a more climate- and nature friendly way of living together.

Access to justice for all is one of worst kept commitments on the list of 17 Sustainable Development Goals. As a legal profession, as societies, and as international community we need to face up to the fact that justice systems are not delivering enough. Two core numbers to remember are one-eighth and two-thirds. In a country of 8 million people, 1 million have a justice problem. Of that group, two thirds are still waiting for resolution, don’t have it resolved or have given up. As if that isn't bad enough: the 2022 Rule of Law Index of WJP tells us that for the fifth year in a row rule of law is declining.

The good news is that change is in the air. A way of working that is more data driven, evidence based, innovation focussed, and participatory. We are calling it people centered justice. People, businesses and a growing group of practitioners from the justice sector are calling for a people centered justice transformation and are starting to do it.

The foundation is collecting and sharing data about needs and experiences of people and best practices of what works. Innovation to improve existing delivery models and to develop new ones is built on that. This is facilitated by leaders and practitioners coming together across silos to build and maintain an enabling environment.

I am proud that I have been able to be a small part of making this happen. I hope this award will give me the opportunity to contribute more. It is so urgent.

There are so many people on whose shoulders I stand and who I want to thank. I cannot do it all in this post. First and foremost: all my amazing colleagues at HiiL, past and present: a group of friendly rebels, trailblazers, and justice warriors like no other. I cannot express my admiration for you in words. You are visionaries, researchers, innovators, political operators, managers, and connectors. You are everything a transformation team needs: strong & vulnerable, fast & slow, leading & following, heart, mind, & soul, and unbelievably committed. I can’t name you all in this post, but will find a way to thank you. Then, I deeply thank all HiiL’s board members, past and present: what an incredible group of Wise Masters Yoda to have access to! You helped me, criticized me, pushed me, and trusted me. I also want to thank all the incredible funders who have had the courage to see that change was needed and who dared invest in the successes and failures that led to the change we are now starting to see. I particularly want to single out the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs; you have led and helped me lead. I thank you deeply for your trust. I also owe so much gratitude to all the Justice Leaders, current and emeritus. They have taught me and others so much about the realities of making justice change happen.

Finally and most importantly, I thank all the courageous and committed people from all the countries where we work or have worked – from leaders at the highest political levels to leaders at the operational levels – who are starting to apply this new way of working. It is a huge honour to work with you. You are the embodiment of the change that is needed.

My very best, S