In a news brief on CAAI News Media (Cambodia) about students from the Royal University of Law and Economics winning the fourth annual Mock Trial Competition, The Asia Foundation’s support for legal education training in Cambodia is mentioned. Read the full article: “U.S. found winners for Cambodian students on Mock Trial.”
The Asia Foundation’s China office convened on May 13-14 a group of Chinese and international policy experts for a workshop to develop innovative ways of measuring changes in governance in China. The meeting was organized under the Chinese Governance Assessment Project (C-GAP) – a Foundation-supported research study examining changes in public participation, transparency, and accountability in China and assessing whether these changes are associated with key governance outcomes such as improved legal compliance, reduced corruption, and better public service delivery.
At the workshop, research teams presented chronologies of Chinese governance reforms along with detailed research methodologies for analyzing the effectiveness of these initiatives. The methodological discussion focused on selecting the best indicators to capture changes in transparency, participation, and accountability within the Chinese polity over time and across provinces. For instance, the transparency team developed indicators for assessing the openness of government information, while the participation team proposed to examine the percentage of draft laws and regulations requiring public comment.
By the final session, the teams had produced comprehensive lists of specific indicators to measure their governance concepts as well as promising strategies for gathering data and information. More importantly, a consensus developed among participants that C-GAP is a unique endeavor in China that is breaking new theoretical and empirical ground. Researchers from Chinese universities discussed how the project would help shape the understanding and future analysis of governance in China, and international participants expressed confidence that the project will provide new insights into the Chinese development model.
The C-GAP initiative, which will produce book-length manuscripts in English and Chinese, is being carried out in collaboration with the China Center for Overseas Social and Philosophical Theories, and the Center for Public Participation Studies and Support at Peking University Law School. It builds on governance programs supported by The Asia Foundation in China focusing on public participation in lawmaking, open government information, administrative procedure reform, performance evaluation of government officials, and other related topics.
In an article in The Age (Australia) about Timor-Leste’s release of Martenus Bere, an Indonesian accused of crimes against humanity and bloodshed, findings from The Asia Foundation’s “Law and Justice in Timor-Leste: A Survey of Citizen Awareness and Attitudes Regarding Law and Justice 2008″ are cited. Read the full article: “Timor’s release of accused killer slammed.”
Asia Foundation’s Justice Sector Reform Program Director Robert La Mont is quoted in a Reuters wire story about an Indonesian mother who was jailed and put on trial after sending an e-mail to friends complaining about her treatment in a private hospital, an event that has become a rallying point for reform of the country’s legal system. Read the full story: “Indonesia Legal System Under Fire Over E – Mail Case.”
Delegates Will Meet with The Asia Foundation’s Legal Aid Program and Thai Legal Organizations
Senior Law Experts from Laos to Visit Thailand Twelve delegates from the Lao Bar Association and associated legal groups will arrive in Thailand on Sunday, May 4, 2008, to begin a four-day observation trip of The Asia Foundation’s legal aid program in tsunami-affected areas and legal organizations in Thailand.
The trip is part of a recently-launched comprehensive legal aid and legal education program in Laos — supported by The Asia Foundation and funded by The McConnell Foundation — to help the Lao Bar Association improve its services, provide legal aid for poor and rural citizens, and increase professional and public understanding of laws and rights under Lao law. To expand services to rural areas and foster awareness about rights, the program will establish legal aid clinics in Champasak and Udomxai, and will also create the country’s first-ever mobile legal aid service and community legal educators to enhance legal education and outreach.
“This observation trip is an important preliminary step toward establishing a comprehensive legal aid system in the Lao PDR,” says Ms. Gretchen Kunze, Deputy Country Representative of The Asia Foundation. “We are extremely pleased to have such a distinguished group of professionals demonstrate their interest in improving legal services for all Lao citizens.”
The delegates will spend the first two days of their trip visiting The Asia Foundation’s Tsunami Rights and Legal Aid Referral Center (T-LAC) in southern Thailand, which will serve as the model for the new project with the Lao Bar Association. Since 2006, T-LAC has provided free legal aid outreach to over 5,750 people in tsunami-affected areas, offering services which include applications for death certificates of family members who have been missing since the tsunami, adoption or legal guardianship of tsunami orphans, settling land disputes and inheritances, and acquiring legal identity for unregistered Thai nationals.
“We learned many important lessons from creating a mechanism to help poor and rural citizens in Thailand gain access to legal assistance after the devastation of the tsunami,” says Ms. Ruengrawee Pichaikul Ketphol, a Senior Program Coordinator for The Asia Foundation. “We hope that through sharing ideas and information this delegation will learn about what has worked here, and then adapt the program to meet the specific needs of Laos.”
The core of the trip will be the delegates’ exposure to T-LAC’s successful formula of training community members to become paralegal volunteers. Though these volunteers have no prior legal education, T-LAC training workshops enable them to assist clients in rural areas where the number of lawyers is inadequate and knowledge of legal remedies is low – conditions which are similar to those in Laos. Using locally-based paralegal volunteers is an effective and sustainable way of providing communities with trusted sources of legal knowledge and advice that will continue long after the program formally ends.
At T-LAC’s office, the delegates will meet T-LAC staff and be introduced to the center’s legal services, strategies, and lessons learned. They will then travel through tsunami-affected areas meeting legal aid beneficiaries and learning about specific legal cases. At one provincial public prosecution office, the delegates will observe paralegal volunteers as they assist clients with legal procedures and help lawyers during a judge’s inquiry. They will also have a chance to hear first-hand experiences on legal matters from clients, lawyers, and T-LAC paralegal volunteers.
In Bangkok, the delegates will meet with the Women Lawyers Association of Thailand, who will provide an overview of the association’s wide range of family mediation, alternative dispute resolution, legal counseling, and legal aid services which focus mostly on family matters and violence against women. Delegates will also meet with the Law Society of Thailand to learn about organizational development and program implementation. Finally, the trip will culminate with a session with the Department of Rights and Liberty Protection at Thailand’s Ministry of Justice for an overview of the department’s legal aid services, legal education, and community-based justice volunteers program.
Lao delegates taking part in the trip are as follows:
- Head of the delegation team, Mr. Phoumi Sioudomphanh, President of the Lao Bar Association;
- Mr. Bouathong Changthamalinh, Head of Cabinet at the Supreme Court;
- Mr. Thongkham Savanhphet, Judge at the Vientiane Municipality Court;
- Mr. Somphay Keosouvanh, Head of the General Inspection Department at the Office of the Supreme People’s Prosecutors;
- Mr. Phimmasone Chanthachit, Legal Expert at the Department of Law Dissemination, Ministry of Justice;
- Mr. Vikone Bounvilay, Legal Expert of the Judicial Administrative System, Ministry of Justice;
- Mr. Vilasay Songvilay, Attorney of the Lao Bar Association;
- Mr. Bounthavy Khorayoke, Attorney of the Lao Bar Association;
- Mr. Somphou Keomounmany, Member of the Lao Bar Association Executive Committee;
- Ms. Douangmala Khamsongka, Law Professor at the National University of Laos;
- Mr. Onesy Bounmany, Head of the Investigation Division, Ministry of Public Security; and
- Ms. Thoummaly Vongphachanh, Director of the Counseling and Protection Center for Women and Children, Lao Women’s Union.
The Asia Foundation’s Legal Aid Program Supports Citizenship through DNA Tests
Over 200 new identification cards were distributed by Governor Kanjana Keeman to Thai citizens at a ceremony held in Ranong province today. The new I.D. card holders are participants of a major initiative led by The Asia Foundation’s Tsunami Rights and Legal Aid Referral Center (T-LAC) program, which provided free DNA testing and guidance to each family through the application process. In addition, today 200 children were added to their family’s household registration list, which will automatically qualify them for a state I.D. card once they reach the legal age of 15.
Across Thailand, thousands of people live without access to rights and government services because they are simply not listed on a household registration list. This list determines a person’s official citizenship status under Thai law. Unregistered at birth for a variety of reasons – including distance from the place of birth to the provincial government office or cultural practices that emphasize home births – these individuals are not eligible for jobs, are unable to receive diplomas, cannot apply for a driver’s license, are ineligible for university admission, have no access to health care and other welfare services, and cannot legally travel outside of their province.
The 2004 tsunami tragically illuminated the fragile condition of unregistered Thais living outside the system because they were also ineligible for government-issued relief benefits. When T-LAC became aware of this crisis, they were compelled to act. To prevent future gaps in services and inequitable distribution of government assistance, The Asia Foundation provided free DNA testing in Ranong to anyone related to a Thai I.D. card holder. At these clinics, the Central Institute of Forensic Science administered the tests and then confirmed the results in a Bangkok laboratory. With confirmed DNA matches, the provincial government of Ranong was able to verify the applicant’s blood relation and issue an I.D. card.
Following the tsunami that struck the Andaman coast, T-LAC reached out to affected communities with the most urgent legal needs, such as adoptions of orphaned survivors, obtaining legal guardianship of minor-aged relatives, and mediating land disputes. Recognizing the many economic hurdles facing tsunami survivors – widows who had to enter the workforce or take on additional jobs to make ends meet, or those who sustained injuries that prevented them from continuing their skilled trade – The Asia Foundation next focused on assisting T-LAC clients to start new businesses or learn new marketable skills in order to become financially self-sufficient again. Small grants were provided to new entrepreneurs as capital funds to begin income-generating activities or receive vocational training.
Through its wide-reaching outreach to remote areas and ongoing relationships with tsunami-affected communities, T-LAC learned of extensive legal issues facing Thais who were not physically harmed by the tsunami but were nonetheless struggling with significant challenges as a result. These findings informed T-LAC’s current priority area: to assist groups in obtaining legal identify so they may secure their rights. Through the partnership with the Ministry of Justice, the Central Institute of Forensic Science, and the Ministry of Interior, hundreds have participated in The Asia Foundation’s DNA testing program, including families with as many as four generations of undocumented relatives who are rightfully Thai citizens.
At today’s ceremony, booths were set up outside so that newly conferred I.D. card holders could open their first bank account, arrange for health care, and explore opportunities for legal employment. T-LAC is also hosting workshops for these new citizens on how to vote, how to register marriages and births, the necessity of land deeds and house registration, as well as general information on how the legal system works and how laws affect individuals in their day-to-day lives.
Coordinated from its country headquarters in Bangkok with a program office in Krabi, the Tsunami Rights and Legal Aid Referral Center (T-LAC) has conducted legal education outreach to over 5,750 people in tsunami-affected areas, including information specifically designed for youth groups. Currently T-LAC programs are conducted by 6 full-time T-LAC staff, 129 paralegal volunteers, and 27 pro bono lawyers who have facilitated 55 door-to-door outreach campaigns and dozens of workshops in villages throughout four provinces in tsunami-affected Thailand. The Asia Foundation’s T-LAC program is funded by the Japan Social Development Fund through the World Bank, the American International Group, Inc. (AIG) Disaster Relief Fund, and Give2Asia.
Lao Bar Association Receives Grant from The Asia Foundation to Improve Access to Justice
In recent years, the Lao government has given increased attention to improving the rule of law. Yet the public still has a limited understanding of existing laws, citizen rights, the legal system, and the role of lawyers. This is especially true in remote areas of the country and among ethnic community populations where there is very little awareness about the formal justice system or how it can help people in their daily lives. In response, The Asia Foundation, the premier non-profit organization devoted to Asia’s development since 1954, announced today a grant to the Lao Bar Association (LBA) for a three-year access to justice project to conduct the nation’s first-ever mobile legal aid clinic and to support the creation of community legal advisors.
The project, which is modeled on The Asia Foundation’s successful post-tsunami legal aid program in Thailand and adapted to the specific circumstances and needs of Laos, will strengthen access to justice and the rule of law, especially for the most vulnerable and marginalized groups of people across the country.
In Laos, people tend to consult relatives and friends, rather than lawyers, regarding legal matters. While this may be useful in small civil conflicts, it has not proven effective when confronting larger legal issues, especially those that involve criminal charges. In many such cases, even though there are laws to protect the rights of the accused, violation of rights still occur and many people do not know they have any form of redress. Two legal aid clinics, one in Champasak and one in Udomxai, will serve as bases for nationwide mobile legal assistance and outreach to southern and northern regions of the Lao PDR. Coordination and oversight will be conducted by the LBA in Vientiane, which will also provide legal aid services to those in central Laos. To reach rural citizens, the LBA will conduct mobile legal aid clinics where trained legal volunteers will travel to villages to talk to citizens about their legal issues. These clinics and legal education efforts will provide even the most rural areas with essential information about the law and legal sector.
“Lao citizens often do not have the financial resources to obtain a lawyer even when they recognize that they have a legal problem; particularly if they live in a remote area. The LBA therefore needs both provincial clinics and mobile legal aid clinics to ensure that all citizens have access to justice,” said Dr. James Klein, country representative of The Asia Foundation.
Another core element of this project is to enhance the institutional capacity of the LBA itself. In order for the Bar to conduct the legal aid program effectively and efficiently, The Asia Foundation will provide technical support and adaptation of best practices from relevant legal aid projects in other countries. Support will include establishing efficient methodology to conduct legal surveys and expertise in program management.
“The project will also train volunteers from different parts of Laos in basic legal procedures and systems. Although they will not become lawyers, they will have a practical understanding of the legal system in Laos and, perhaps most importantly, know how to access help,” said Mr. Phoumy Sioudomphanh, President of the Lao Bar Association. “Therefore, even when this program ends, communities throughout the country will still have a valuable resource –a community-based advocate— so that they are able to help themselves long into the future,” he added.
The Asia Foundation has a long history in the Lao PDR, maintaining an office in Vientiane from 1958 to 1975. The Foundation’s current program in Laos, managed from its Bangkok office, was launched in 1989. Prior to this program, the Foundation supported the LBA’s institutional and staff capacity building with the purchase of equipment as well as providing training in program design and report writing.
This new access to justice initiative complements the support provided to the LBA by other donors such as the UNDP, European Commission and AusAID. Effective donor collaboration and liaison will ensure that the LBA can increase its capacity to deliver access to justice to the most vulnerable communities in Lao PDR.
The Lao Bar Association (LBA) is a professional organization that represents lawyers in the Lao PDR. It was established to clarify the organization of lawyers, their training and qualifications, and the rights and responsibilities of lawyers in this country. It has both male and female lawyer members. Decree 64 Pertaining to the Organization and Operation of the Bar Association of the Lao PDR was signed and took effect on February 21, 1996. For more information, please visit:
www.laobar.org.
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