Projects
ILF-Nepal
The ILF has had a program in Nepal since July 2007. While a number of local NGOs are providing legal aid services, most focus on oppressed groups and criminal defense remains timid. Lawyers are very reluctant to challenge established practices that often result in arbitrary pretrial and pre-verdict detentions. Without proactive defense lawyers asking the courts to apply and abide by new and existing rules there can be no change. A joint committee of the Nepal Bar Association and the Judiciary Committee issued a recent report concluding that "the interim political period in Nepal has seriously affected the judiciary and the court system. Instead of standing as a symbol of fairness and independence, the judiciary has established itself as one of the country's most corrupt institutions." Working in such a dysfunctional system has been difficult. Nevertheless, the ILF's legal aid project has managed to change a few well-established "practices."
During its first year in Nepal, the ILF had a pilot project in the legal aid department of Advocacy Forum, a local human rights organization, where it helped the lawyers engage in more pro-active criminal defense practices. During that time, the ILF became very familiar with the criminal codes and the often unrelated court practices of Nepal. Seeing the potential for major future changes in the criminal justice system, the ILF embarked on the second phase of ILF-Nepal, establishing itself as a local and independent public defender office, in partnership with the Judges' Society Nepal. The office now has two international fellows and eight Nepali lawyers, two scheduled to open the first ILF-Nepal district office in June 2009 in Janakpur, in the region of the Terai.
The office is providing representation in all courts in Kathmandu with a special focus on providing representation to defendants appearing in the quasi-judicial proceedings before the Chief District Officer (CDO), who has jurisdiction over all misdemeanors and arms-and-ammunitions cases - most of the cases in Kathmandu. ILF-Nepal has obtained favorable rulings in the district and appellate courts to make criminal defense possible. It is clear that only intense and continued mentoring of lawyers, with constant and continuous pressure on the courts through repeated applications, will lead to systemic changes in the criminal justice system. ILF-Nepal's international fellows are also spending time sensitizing judges to the role of defense counsel and the responsibility of the judiciary in protecting the right to counsel. Natalie Rea will be making a presentation in January 2009, to the Nepal retreat organized by the Asian Development Bank to convince donors and the government of Nepal of the need to fund quality criminal defense as a critical part of the peace process ad the fight against corruption.
See Opportunities in Nepal, or more Projects.
