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.

Advocacy - national and international level: see schedule oin 2024, the ilf engaged in advocacy efforts at the international level to strengthen the right to legal aid for people arrested or detained and advance equal access to justice for all. To address the barriers to access to legal aid identified last year in research the ilf conducted with pro bono support from white & case and amazon, the ilf worked with these pro bono partners to draft a forthcoming toolkit that will help governments reform laws and policies that restrict eligibility for legal aid. This resource will provide practical guidance on how countries can draft laws, develop policies and implement practices that ensure individuals are guaranteed access to legal aid if they cannot afford a lawyer, in line with the un principles and guidelines on access to legal aid in criminal justice systems and best practices in the jurisdictions researched by white & case and amazon. It is expected that decision makers around the world will refer to this toolkit when writing or reforming their legal aid laws, advocating new policies, and determining how best to improve access to effective legal aid in practice.the ilf also participated in several international events to ensure that the right to legal aid and equal access to justice for all under the law remained at the forefront of global justice conversations. In may, the ilf took part in the 33rd session of the un commission on crime prevention and criminal justice (ccpcj), co-hosting a side event with member states and civil society partners on advancing reforms to eliminate court-imposed fines and fees that criminalize poverty. In november, the ilf convened a new york roundtable with konrad adenauer-stiftung (kas) to increase transparency and knowledge sharing around the un expert group meeting on equal access to justice scheduled to take place in brazil in december. Finally, the ilf participated in a unodc legal aid conference in vienna, sharing ilf's research on the impact of quality legal aid in kenya to reinforce the benefits of providing legal aid services. In november, the ilf and our partners in the campaign to decriminalize poverty and status convened 26 global experts in rio de janeiro to draft the first international principles on eliminating discrimination in law enforcement and criminal justice systems. Among other recommendations, these draft principles emphasize the right to legal aid and the role of defense lawyers in challenging bias and will serve as a roadmap toward establishing more equitable justice systems for policymakers, practitioners, and civil society organizations. The ilf also played a central role in the un expert group meeting on equal access to justice for all, hosted in brazil in december. Following sustained ilf advocacy, the meeting organizers placed discrimination at the center of the meeting agenda, and the ilf's executive director nominated by the u.s. Government successfully influenced the outcome document to include calls for removing barriers to legal aid and taking other steps to address discrimination in criminal justice system such as repealing and reforms discriminatory laws and practices.