Afghanistan Gets Public Defense, American Style New York Law Journal Friday, August 29, 2003  Young lawyers with eight weeks to spare, three years of criminal defense experience, a yen for exotic travel and few qualms about wearing bullet-proof clothing may wish to investigate a unique opportunity created by a veteran public defender. "Legal Aid Afghanistan" is the brainchild of Natalie Rea, a staff attorney with the Criminal Appeals Bureau of the Legal Aid Society of Queens. Her effort is currently a six-month pilot project operating on a $100,000 budget under the aegis of the International Legal Foundation (ILF) of New York, of which Ms. Rea is executive director. The ILF mission is to assist in establishing fair criminal justice systems in post-conflict countries, with an emphasis on drafting laws that comport with national cultural realities. (To volunteer for the Afghan project, lawyers may consult the ILF Web site ÷ www.TheILF.org ÷ and www.probono.net .) At the moment, Ms. Rea is far from her office in Kew Gardens, at work with two Afghan lawyers in Kabul in the cause of persons accused by the post-war government of crimes such as murder, bigamy and theft. "The presence of a public defender is an indispensable part of justice reconstruction," said Ms. Rea in a question-answer interview via e-mail. "Without a public defender knocking at the door of the police or the prosecutor or even the court, no one will move. "We are not here to tell [Afghan lawyers] how to practice," she added. "We are here to share, and put our common experiences together to provide representation and improve the justice system." Assuming success in Kabul beyond the pilot period that would bring additional funding, Ms. Rea has arranged for four other attorneys to rotate in overlapping two-month tours in Kabul. Two volunteers are Legal Aid lawyers from her own Queens office: Mary Ross, a staff attorney, and Kenneth Deluca, a supervising attorney. In addition, Karena Rahall, a staff attorney in Criminal Defense Division of Brooklyn Legal Aid, and Tina Giffin of the Washington, D.C., firm Williams & Connolly are on deck. In two weeks, Ms. Rea will be joined by Ms. Ross, who in addition to her trial work for Legal Aid is a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph, the Roman Catholic order of nuns. "When Natalie put out the call looking for volunteers, I jumped at the idea," said Ms. Ross. In war-torn Afghanistan, she added, "There hasn't been a defense bar for 20 years. Accused people never see a lawyer. "The large goal is to help train Afghan lawyers. The closer goal is to try to get some people out of jail," said Ms. Ross. "There actually are laws [in Afghanistan] about how long accused persons can be held, but nobody's keeping those laws." >>>> continue
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