Almost seven hundred participants and volunteers from more than thirty countries attended the 8th Asia Pro Bono Conference held in Kathmandu, Nepal on 13-15 September 2019. They participated in close to fifty conference sessions, in addition to Access to Justice (A2J) Exchange events (including more than ten full-day workshops) before and after the conference.
Sessions
The issues covered by the conference agenda went beyond the traditional concept of pro bono work (lawyers providing legal aid to the poor) and extended to law school programs, paralegalism and legal empowerment in the communities. Pro Bono was discussed in relation to many issues including Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), rights of migrant workers and refugees, human trafficking, rights of women, victims of the internal armed conflict in Nepal, enforcement of economic, social and cultural rights, and role of artists in raising awareness on social issues.
The variety of topics taken up in the conference is seen in the following plenary and workshop sessions:
• Launching of the Justice for All: The Task Force on Justice Report in the plenary session facilitated by Hina Jilani, one of the Elders in the Task Force on Justice1 – the report stresses the continuing need to support access to justice initiatives all over the world;
• Systemic Change Part I: No “Ordinary” Strategic Litigation – discussion of examples on how litigation can be used in order to change the view of the courts on significant legal issues that have impact on human rights (arrest and investigation procedures, death penalty, use of legal aid, etc.);
• Growing Pro Bono and Ensuring A2J [Access to Justice] in the MENA [Middle East and North Africa] Region/Experiences from Jordan – discussion of the challenges to the realization of access to justice by the poor such as insufficient legal service from the lawyers, limitation of legal aid service under the law, language problem for foreign migrants in seeking court action or when facing charges in court;
• Strengthening Community Paralegalism in Asia – Recognition, Support and Public Financing – review of the role of paralegals in accessing justice while ensuring that their work is not compromised by lack of proper knowledge and skills and has appropriate supervision by lawyers;
• Effective Pro Bono Frameworks to Promote and Protect Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (in South Asia) – discussion of the problem caused by misunderstanding of economic, social and cultural rights and the difficulty of enforcing such rights through the courts;
• From Street Lawyering to Human Rights Lawyering to Community Lawyering—All Leading to Rebellious Lawyering – presentation on the law clinic program in Bangladesh that stresses the importance of helping the poor fight for their rights, and requires law students to immerse themselves in poor communities for better understanding of their situation;
• Networking in Asia for Access to Justice for the Marginalized and Vulnerable: In Particular, Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Migrants Crossing the Borders – presentation of initiatives at the regional and national levels that address the need for refugees and asylum seekers to get access to justice;
• Alternative Voices in Social Justice: Informing the Pro Bono Movement – demonstration of different ways in relaying human rights/access to justice messages such as the use of songs and art; and
• Pro Bono and Transitional Justice – discussion of the problem of addressing the search for justice by families of victims of the internal armed conflict (especially the innocent non-combatant people who were killed or went missing).
Participants’ Profile
Local/national, regional and international organizations working on access to justice in Asia and also Australia, U.S.A., United Kingdom and Nigeria had representatives in the 8th Asia Pro Bono Conference.
The participants represented various types of institutions – commercial law firms, non-governmental legal assistance organizations, government law and justice departments, law schools, universities (on programs other than law course), and United Nations agencies.
The 2020 pro bono conference will be held in Cebu City.
Jefferson R. Plantilla is the Chief Researcher in HURIGHTS OSAKA.
For further information, please contact HURIGHTS OSAKA.
Endnote
1 See website of Task Force on Justice, www.justice.sdg16.plus.