heatherannw56@yahoo.co.uk.
NETLAP
Network for Law
Accountability and
Peace
NETLAP seeks to increase knowledge of the domestic and international laws of Armed Conflict and Human Rights among citizens, Parliamentarians, and decision makers; and to explore, develop and improve productive communication between them.
"I hope this is helpful" is the sign-off for many official letters to concerned citizens confused by the contrast between the laws of armed conflict and what the British State is actually doing. The replies are often evasive and irrelevant. This is dismissive for letter writers and misleading for MPs. Letters from MPs and surgery visits are often unrewarding. Taking the law seriously is not a main priority.
NETLAP organised a two-day conference, 1-2 September 2009 at Friends House, London. Speakers included lawyers, academics, politicians, analysts and activists. As a result NetLap has started to develop a structure for taking these concerns forward. There is already an extensive documentation of correspondence with officials and MPs over several years, and NetLap will establish a system to exchange experience and develop this dialogue.
The main point of the conference was to achieve a result - a structure for developing our contacts with Parliamentarians and officials so that they are more open and informative for us.
Discussion groups explored these issues practically and in detail. They considered:
- How best to approach Parliamentarians and decision-makers,
- How we can go about creating a bank of responses based on the advice of lawyers,
- What can we learn from related work carried out by other organisations and reach out to like-minded groups and to the public, bearing in mind public opinion?
- How to make the most effective use of Information Technology and the media,
- Identifying specific projects as a test case for our dialogue? What procedures for developing and monitoring our future work can we set up?
