Legal Research Assistance
The Center offers free legal research assistance to judges on selected matters relating to gender-based violence. On those selected matters, law students, supervised by faculty and staff, will provide the following information upon the request of a judge in any country:
- Legal memorandums relating to legal issues involving gender-based violence.
- Reports covering a particular issue surrounding gender-based violence that affects women and girls' access to justice.
- Legal materials outlining the international or domestic legal frameworks relating to gender-based violence.
- Training manuals or other guides to educate and inform relevant stakeholders about the issues affecting access to justice for survivors of gender-based violence.
Once a judge submits a request, a Center staff member will contact her or him to confirm whether we can handle the request and to set a timeline for delivery of the work-product. Our students are generally available during the academic year (August to May) to respond to research requests. We will accept research requests throughout the academic year, but preference will be given to those received during the beginning of each semester (i.e. in August and in January). To request legal research assistance, you must be a judge.
Judges, please register with the Center and send us an email to request legal research assistance. Please include the specific question or issue on which you seek legal research assistance.
Project Assistance
The Center faculty, staff, and students also work with judges, legal professionals governmental and nongovernmental organizations on selected in-depth projects that work toward improving access to justice for victims of gender-based violence in their respective country. For example, a judge or local organization leader may be concerned about a particular barrier women face accessing the courts, or may have a particular need for assistance to improve women and girls’ access to the justice system. A project may involve developing materials for training judges, law enforcement agents and victims on the implementation and adjudication of law and its impact on women. Other projects may involve legal action related to the improvement of access to justice for victims of gender-based violence.
Examples of specific types of projects include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Research on relevant domestic and international legal issues related to gender-based violence and access to justice.
- Designing, preparing and implementing judicial, legal or advocacy trainings.
- Investigating and reporting on relevant issues.
- Drafting practice manuals and bench memorandums.
We typically begin working on projects that we select either: 1) in August and complete it by December of that year, or 2) in January and complete it by May of that year. A team of law students supervised by Cornell Law School faculty members will work on the project.
To request additional information or project assistance, please send us an email. Please include a description of the project and your desired end-product, goals and timeline.