THE INTERNATIONAL LEGAL FOUNDATION LTD

Advice and assistance - global: see schedule othe ilf provides in-depth mentoring, training, information, and technical assistance to legal aid providers, justice stakeholders, and local communities in all the countries where we work. Throughout 2024, the ilf continued to build the capacity of local lawyers to engage in impact litigation that curbs unlawful and arbitrary actions of authorities while pioneering a holistic model of legal aid with in-house social workers. This work was supported by day-to-day, case-by-case mentoring by 19 international fellows who provided 3,709.5 hours of mentoring. This innovative professional exchange has transformed local defense teams from passive participants in the justice system to proactive advocates for the rights and dignity of their clients. In addition to this work, the ilf has continued to share expertise and advance justice sector reform with international organizations, governments, and legal aid providers around the world. In december 2024, the ilf concluded a project with the georgia legal aid service (las) intended to improve the quality and accessibility of legal aid services. The project focused on the creation of specialized performance standards for las lawyers and developing a mentoring program for evaluation and training of las lawyers. A key output was the development and las adoption of performance standards, based on the ilf's 10 model practice principles for legal aid lawyers. The ilf then worked with las to develop a quality assurance performance assessment/evaluation questionnaire. This tool is intended to be used by supervisors to assess lawyer performance based on established standards. Over the course of the project the ilf program director and international fellows, provided over 300 hours of intensive, case-based mentoring to 89 las lawyers on 131 cases across the following 10 las bureaus: tbilisi, rustavi, mtskheta, gori, telavi, kutaisi, batumi, zestaponi, ozurgeti, and the bureau for specialized cases in tbilisi. The mentoring program established two regional bureaus, one in the east and one in the west. These bureaus served as hubs for mentoring activities, ensuring that new lawyers receive ongoing mentoring in their cases, and that more senior lawyers receive mentoring on issues that are new or complex. All of this work had significant impact that the ilf was able to document qualitatively and quantitively. Of particular note, las reported a 60% improvement in new lawyers' performance, with attorneys now regularly meeting clients within 24 hours of appointment an important new performance standard introduced.in trinidad and tobago, the ilf completed a survey of all children and youth detained at the youth treatment and rehabilitation center, producing data to guide reforms and expand access to legal aid services and diversion services for children in conflict with the law. The ilf also partnered with the college of science, technology and applied arts of trinidad and tobago (costaatt) to launch educational programming for system-impacted youth, supporting a pilot prison-to-college pipeline initiative with incarceration nations network.in uzbekistan, the ilf was contracted by undp to lead a training for legal aid lawyers on developing performance standards rooted in international law and best practices. The training produced a draft set of standards to strengthen the quality of legal aid in criminal cases.in tajikistan, the ilf designed and delivered two intensive four-day trainings for 40 legal aid lawyers under a undp initiative, focusing on core criminal defense skills, rights protections, and strategies to challenge prosecutorial overreach. The training was well-received by the union of advocates and undp, sparking momentum for broader reform and future collaboration.in nepal, the ilf worked with our local partner, the public defender society (pds) of nepal, to ensure the representation of poor and vulnerable accused and to combat discrimination in the justice system. The ilf engaged in research and analysis with pds-nepal to identify the laws that are most frequently used to discriminate against poor and marginalized populations in order to begin building a strategic litigation plan that would challenge these unjust laws.