On December 8, 2023, the USAID Rule of Law Program held a lecture on People-Centered Justice (PCJ) and court-community engagement as part of the Human Rights Week, an event which was attended by 40 students and academic staff from both the legal and non-legal faculties of the Georgian National University (SEU).

Ana Phirtskhalashvili, Vice Rector for Scientfic Research of SEU, thanked the USAID Rule of law Program (Program) and the American people for their continuing support to Georgia, and expressed a desire to have more joint activities between her university and the Program.

Dr. Tim Bunjevac, Community Engagement Advisor for the Program, gave the lecture and engaged in a lively discussion with the students. He provided examples of global court-community engagement practices and introduced the principles of People Centered Justice (PCJ). He exposed the participants to successful examples of court outreach initiatives that engender greater public trust in the court system. Students asked many questions and learned about courtroom designs that incorporate PCJ principles for vulnerable court users, such as children or persons with a mental impairment.

Dr. Bunjevac delved further into the concept of PCJ, examining relevant theories and design approaches, and discussed strategies for enhancing the justice system’s interaction with the local communities. He explored distinctions between traditional and problem-solving courts, the five levers of Human-Centered Design in the courts, potential avenues for extending court-community engagement beyond courthouse boundaries, and opportunities for involving various external stakeholders in supporting court-community engagement.