SA startups Citizen Justice Network, Lady Liberty take top honours at HiiL challenge

Two South African startups from won top honours at The Hague Institute for Innovation of Law’s (HiiL) annual Innovating Justice Forum held earlier this month, when they were declared the winner and runner-up of the global Innovating Justice Challenge 2017.

HiiL revealed in a press release today that the winner of the Innovating Justice Challenge was announced as South Africa’s Citizen Justice Network — an initiative that expands upon the nexus of journalism and the spreading of legal information.

Citizen Justice Network trains community paralegals to be radio journalists, and then pairs these paralegals with community radio stations so that vital social justice content can be produced.

The winners were selected from over 600 applications to HiiL’s Innovating Justice Challenge 2017 worldwide

Lady Liberty, also from South Africa, came second in the challenge. Lady Liberty has developed a mobile law clinic which enables attorneys to visit poor and marginalised women in remote areas.

Decided upon by a jury of highly experienced individuals from the private, not-for profit and legal sector, the second runner-up was JustFix NYC.

Tackling housing rights issues and gender issues affecting marginalised women, the innovators displayed the people centered justice initiatives that will disrupt and change justice for the better.

The winners were selected from over 600 applications to the Innovating Justice Challenge 2017 worldwide.

As well as earning prize money worth up to €20 000, Citizen Justice Network and Lady Liberty will join 26 other innovations in the HiiL Justice Accelerator programme (HJA), which will offer further support and funding throughout the year.

Applications for the 2018 programme will begin in March.

Featured image: Paul McNally of Citizen Justice Network and Samantha Ngcolomba of Lady Liberty receiving their awards (Supplied)