Download the file - United Nations Rule of Law

works, first by allowing for an increase in theuse of fixed-term contracts, then by reintroducingconstraints in the use of temporary contractswhile easing employment protection legislationfor permanent workers. More recently Spanishtrade unions, employer organisations and governmentsigned an agreement to bring the use offixed-term work contracts more in line with theEuropean social model (See Case 9).Legal empowerment through alternative disputeresolutionFor poor people around the world, getting accessto courts and legal support to protecttheir rights is often impossible. In many cases,the reason for this is straightforward — they cannotafford to pay the legal fees. In Tajikistan, theUK has helped to solve this problem by supportingThird Party Arbitration Courts. These courtsare an alternative way of resolving disputes: twosides to a dispute agree to nominate a third partywho they both trust to mediate their disagreementand come to a decision. Although they operateindependently of the formal legal system, decisionsare recognised by Tajikistan’s official courts.Third Party Arbitration Courts provide poor peoplewith a cheap, fair and accessible way of resolvingdisputes and protecting their rights. Third PartyArbitration has helped to make legal servicesavailable to 800,000 people in Tajikistan. Theapproach has also been used successfully in Russia,Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia(See Case 10).Improved business environmentThe World Bank Investment Climate Survey illustratesthe need to improve the business environmentto encourage investment, entrepreneurshipand workers rights. Many countries have foundnew ways to support SMEs through various initiativeswith the aim of upgrading them into theformal economy (See Chapter 4 for examples).Simplifi cation of contracting proceduresThe Senegalese Government provides an exampleof a pro-active policy of contracting out publicinfrastructure projects to small scale contractors.In this case, bidding procedures and documentshave been substantially simplified in order topermit smaller contractors to participate in thebidding process. Bureaucratic documentation isalso minimised and bidding documents containofficial unit cost estimate in order to guide theless sophisticated contractor. A general session isheld wherein contractors are told about the existenceof the implementing agency and informedabout procedures, from the bidding to the awardingand implementation. Simplification of theprocess goes as far as making the name of thewinner very clear in the announcement so thateven an illiterate contractor’s representative canreadily determine who was awarded the contract(See Case 11).There are also lessons to be learned from countriesthat have recently introduced policies aimedat empowering workers and entrepreneurs in theinformal economy through business rights (SeeChapter 4).169