The ILF

Panel Discussion in Washington DC with Country Program Staff

theilf — Mon, 14 May 2012 15:40:44 +0000

On Wednesday May 14, 2012, staff from the ILF country programs will be participating in a panel discussion hosted by the Open Society Institute in Washington, DC. The ILF’s advocacy director, Jennifer Smith, will be moderating.

The topic will be “Effective Indigent Criminal Defense in Post Conflict and Transitional Settings: Advances and Challenges”. The panel will be:

Ahmad Rafi Nadiri, Legal Clinic Manager of ILF-Afghanistan
Ajay Shankar Jha, Director of ILF-Nepal
Ali Bazzar, Director of ILF West Bank
Jennifer Tsai, ABA ROLI Access to Justice Advisor

For more information and to RSVP, go to this link.

ILF-Nepal Case Notes for Fall 2011 Now Available

theilf — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 20:44:06 +0000

Case Notes from ILF-Nepal for Fall 2011 are now available here:

(PDF File)

Case Notes covers some of the issues that ILF-Nepal’s attorneys are working to address and selected cases of interest. This edition focuses on proceedings in quasi-judicial bodies, including a recent Supreme Court decision on the jurisdiction of quasi-judicial authorities.

Tenth Anniversary Event

theilf — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 20:34:42 +0000

The ILF will be holding an event on May 19th in New York to celebrate its tenth anniversary. Click here for more details!

ILF joins Global Forum on Law, Justice and Development as a Founding Partner

theilf — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:27:09 +0000

The ILF has joined the Global Forum on Law, Justice and Development as a Founding Partner. The Global Forum, an initiative of the World Bank Legal Vice Presidency, aims to provide an innovative and dynamic platform for knowledge exchange on issues related to law and development. The ILF looks forward to actively participating in this forum and sharing its experiences building effective and sustainable public defense systems in post-conflict settings.

For more information about the Global Forum on Law, Justice and Development, visit the website here.

ILF-West Bank Case Notes for October – December 2011 Now Available

theilf — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:54:05 +0000

Case Notes from ILF-West Bank for October through December 2011 are now available here: (English PDF) Case Notes covers some of the issues that ILF-West Bank’s attorneys are working to address and selected cases of interest.

This edition features one interesting appellate decision in favor of our client; one important appeal on the right to counsel in conciliation courts, which is still pending after one year; and an update on the delays discussed in the last edition. It also highlights several acquittals that illustrate the weak, if not altogether frivolous, nature of some criminal cases pursued by the prosecution.

ILF-Afghanistan Cited as Success by the German Government

theilf — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 14:42:51 +0000

In a report on progress in Afghanistan to the Bundestag (a federal legislative body in Germany), ILF-Afghanistan is cited as a success in institution building and governance. The report, authored by the federal government, states on page 40:

“In Afghanistan there are too few qualified defense attorneys. Therefore, the [German] federal government has for many years supported the criminal justice project of the International Legal Foundation (ILF). The ILF represents a third of the criminally accused and the majority of indigent individuals accused of crimes in Afghanistan and in addition operates legal clinical programs in a number of Universities. In 2011, the Afghan project of the ILF has been transferred, with international support, to the Afghan Ministry of Justice. Thus, the defense of indigent accused in Afghanistan has now been institutionalized.”

Link to Report

ILF-Nepal Wins Release of Illegally Jailed 14 Year Old Client

theilf — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 20:17:22 +0000

ILF-Nepal’s office in Kanchanpur recently won the release of a 14 year old client who was being illegally held in detention with adults. Filing a petition for a writ of habeas corpus with the Appellate Court, advocates submitted two documents that conclusively proved that the client was no older than 14. However, the police maintained that the client was 16. Bewilderingly, the Appellate Court dismissed the petition, but the local newspaper covered the story, laying out the violations of law, and published it on the front page the next day. The client was released to his parents immediately after the article was published.

In Nepal and many other post-conflict countries, young children are prosecuted and detained with adults because there is no official documentation (such as a birth certificate) proving their age. As a result, they are often held in dangerous conditions and tried as adults, facing harsher punishments that are inappropriate for children. The ILF has been working to raise awareness of the problem and defend the rights of accused juveniles worldwide. Congratulations to Advocates Pooja Bhandari and Dev Raj Pant for their hard work and success in obtaining the release of their juvenile client!

The following is a translation of the article published in the Western Nepal Regional News.

Juvenile in Illegal Detention After Quarrel

Habeas Corpus writ dismissed by the Appellate Court, parents ask for support

Western Nepal Correspondent

Mahendranagar, 2068 Mangshir 15 [December 1, 2011]

Upon the case of a quarrel, a juvenile has been illegally held in detention for over a week. The Kanchanpur Chief District Officer, who is also the child welfare officer, issued the order that juvenile Prakash [last name omitted] be illegally kept in detention.

Prakash, a resident of Kanchanpur Bhimdatta Municipality-7 Haldukhal, has been held in illegal detention at the Mahendranagar Ward Police Office and the Kanchanpur District Police Office since Mangshir 7 [November 23]. 13 years old Prakash was arrested during a fight that broke out at a marriage in Haldukhal. He is charged with public disorder and is illegally held in detention after being remanded by the Kanchanpur Chief District Officer. Other participants in the marriage dispute had escaped while he was arrested.

The Nepal Interim Constitution, as well as national and international law related to children, prohibit holding juveniles in detention with adults. Juveniles may only be kept in a child rehabilitation centre. If the child rehabilitation centre is not available, he should be handed over to his parents or guardians during the investigation or trial, provided that he will be present whenever ordered. [Translators note: under Nepalese law, juveniles should be transferred to their guardian in most cases and only held in rehabilitation centers under exceptional circumstances.] Moreover, the Supreme Court ruled in 2065 [2009] that the Chief District Officer does not have jurisdiction to try any case where only children are involved. But in the case of this marriage dispute, the Chief District Officer and Child Welfare Officer, Basudev Dahal, has ordered that a 13 years old child be held with other adults in detention.

He has now been kept in Kanchanpur District Police custody for a week. He was the only person arrested after the marriage dispute and was held in detention on charges of public disorder. On Mangshir 8 [November 24], he was remanded by the Kanchanpur Chief District Officer and held in detention with other adults for investigation. His parents have urged the public to support them in asking that he be released from illegal custody. A petition for a writ of habeas corpus, filed on his behalf by the International Legal Foundation in Kanchanpur, has been dismissed by Mahendranagar Appellate Court. Arguing that he was illegally detained, the writ petition was filed by advocates Pooja Bhandari and Dev Raj Pant. The writ was dismissed by the joint bench, led by Chief Judge of Appellate Court Durga Prasad Upreti, saying that he is not a juvenile. In dismissing the writ, the Appellate Court relied on a police report where Kanchanpur District Police Deputy Superintendent Govinda Prasad Acharya claimed that he was 16 years old and not a juvenile.

A letter from Mahakali Janasewa High School, where he is currently studying, states that his age is 13 years and 10 months according to the school’s data. Prakash is currently studying in grade 10. Likewise, a migration certificate issued by Bhimdatta Municipality on 2064 Poush 26 [January 10, 2008], mentions that he was 10 years old at that time. Although there is adequate evidence that proves he is a juvenile, the Appellate Court dismissed the Habeas Corpus writ, causing his parents a great deal of distress. In order to release Prakash from illegal detention, his parents are asking for help from various institution and organizations.

ILF-Nepal Case Notes for Summer 2011 Now Available

theilf — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 03:31:51 +0000

Case Notes from ILF-Nepal for Summer 2011 are now available here:

(PDF File)

Case Notes covers some of the issues that ILF-Nepal’s attorneys are working to address and selected cases of interest. This edition focuses again on the endless trial delays resulting in violations of the right to a speedy trial. The cases described here have been delayed at least one year, and some as long as three years.

ILF and Afghan Ministry of Justice Sign Groundbreaking Agreement to Provide Legal Aid for the Poor

theilf — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 02:54:51 +0000

ILF-Afghanistan and the Afghan Ministry of Justice, with funding from the World Bank, finalized an agreement today that will ensure legal representation for thousands of indigent Afghans accused of crimes. This initiative will strengthen the capacity of Afghanistan’s justice system to conduct fair trials and protect the rights of all Afghans.

Criminal defense is a crucial component of a functioning justice system and indispensable to ensuring the right to a fair trial. The constitution of Afghanistan guarantees the right to counsel and requires legal representation for poor persons accused of crimes. While the Afghan Ministry of Justice has long had a Legal Aid Department, the department’s criminal division lacked expertise in criminal defense and struggled to provide effective representation to even a handful of accused persons.

The ILF opened Afghanistan’s first independent public defender office in Kabul in 2003 with two Afghan lawyers. Today, ILF-Afghanistan has 73 lawyers operating out of 14 offices. For the first four years, volunteer practicing criminal defense lawyers from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Ireland were sent to Afghanistan on three–month assignments to provide day-to-day mentoring to Afghan lawyers, successfully developing their research and advocacy skills. In 2007, senior Afghan staff lawyers assumed responsibility for supervising and training lawyers joining the office. Over eight years, the ILF built a nationwide public defender system in Afghanistan from the ground up that has provided quality legal representation to over 19,000 indigent clients.

Although ILF-Afghanistan was built by an independent NGO funded by international donors, the ILF’s ultimate goal is to facilitate the creation of a government-supported, locally run public defender system. The agreement signed today represents a major step toward realizing this goal in Afghanistan.

This model of institution building is common in other development sectors such as medicine; medical facilities are often established by NGOs with donor support before being turned over to the government. However, this type of arrangement is unique in the justice sector and may serve as an innovative example for other efforts to strengthen the rule of law in countries emerging from conflict or in transition.

The ILF congratulates and thanks the staff of ILF-Afghanistan, who have demonstrated tremendous commitment and professionalism over the past eight years. The ILF is also grateful to its many donors, without whom this success would not be possible.

ILF-West Bank Case Notes for July/September 2011 Now Available

theilf — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 23:07:27 +0000

Case Notes from ILF-West Bank for July and September 2011 are now available here: (English PDF File)

Case Notes covers some of the issues that ILF-West Bank’s attorneys are working to address and selected cases of interest. This edition discusses the tremendous problem of delays in the courts of the West Bank, as well as recent success ILF-West Bank has had in obtaining access to investigation files, as provided by the law.