Establishing Legal Aid in Post-Conflict Countries

Thanks in part to the support of our GlobalGiving donors over the past three years, the International Legal Foundation is now preparing to establish a criminal legal aid program in Myanmar that will provide critically needed legal aid services to poor children, women and men accused of criminal offenses. The opening of a legal aid program in Myanmar will continue and build on a years-long relationship between the ILF and the Government of Myanmar. Since 2014, we have provided advice and support to Myanmar as they drafted and adopted the country’s first legal aid law and began to work toward its implementation.

As we begin to establish a legal aid program in Myanmar, we will continue to develop the collaborative relationships we have built with representatives of Myanmar’s government and civil society, allowing us to further impact the justice system as a whole. Throughout the project, we will work with judges, prosecutors, police, and members of civil society to share expertise and improve systems for the provision of justice, and will use a combination of training and evidence-based advocacy to build their awareness and understanding of the right to legal aid.

In a 2015 assessment conducted with support from our GlobalGiving donors, the ILF determined there was a critical need for criminal legal aid services in Myanmar to challenge illegal and arbitrary actions of authorities that violate the rights of the poor, such as illegal detention, torture, and the lack of access to government evidence. With the adoption of Myanmar’s first Legal Aid Law in January 2016, the Government of Myanmar has acknowledged its obligation to provide ‘legal aid for the right of defense and the right of appeal in criminal cases,’ laying the groundwork for true reform. However, implementation of change at the government level has been slow, and in practice few indigent people accused of crimes actually receive legal representation, while even fewer receive quality representation.

Without quality criminal defense services for the poor, each day hundreds of poor, vulnerable, and marginalized men, women, and children in Myanmar face arbitrary detention, coerced and tortured confessions, wrongful convictions, and other abuses. The ILF’s work in Myanmar will help ensure that the poorest and most vulnerable receive access to justice.