For a period of 24 months, the project will establish structures for legal aid, provide support for local human rights defenders, civil society organizations, as well as continued support for a sustainable justice reform. The project´s activities will take place in four provinces in the Deep-South of Thailand: Yala, Pattani, Narathiwas and Songkla.
The Project will also focus on enhancing monitoring systems for non-state actors and civilians through the trainings and capacity building activities. In order to enable civil society to carry out a more effective monitoring system the program will offer assistance in a range of activities including case monitoring, reporting, and the documentation of the conduct of security forces in affected area.
Academic research and case studies on the need for judicial reform will act as a resource to improve counseling activities. Finally, by providing public seminars and workshops for local authorities and military/security forces, the project hopes to contribute to a positive state involvement.
Project Activities and Objectives
The central aim of the project is to improve access to justice and human rights through provision of legal assistance and protection for defense and strategic litigation cases. Additionally, the project attempts to strengthen alternative advocacy mechanism such as strategy meetings, networking platforms with local authorities, lawyer and paralegal capacity building program, etc.
Project Activities
The project consists of 13 sets of activities and shall be divided into main six categories as followed;
- Extension and improvement of free legal aid centers for civilians in the implementation area
- Strategic case meetings and series of seminars between authorities and other key stakeholders
- Comprehensive training programs for lawyer and paralegal within their area of practice
- Internship program for law student and law graduate
- Capacity building program for community initiatives
- Conduct research, case studies and draft of policy options on the necessity of free public defender service for indigents
Results of the Project
The above-mentioned sets of activities are contributing to three main results:
1) Improved capacity of local law and human rights CSOs in providing free legal service for vulnerable groups;
The result will be achieved through strengthening existing structure of legal aid center in three provinces as well as establishing new facility in Songkla province. In each center, capacity building program for legal team, with the aim to continually improve their efficiency, will be organized on a regular basis. The content of the programs include legal training ranging from basic to in-depth instructions in dealing with the cases based on human rights violation such as torture, arbitrary detention and disappearance.
2) Strengthened capacity of community-based paralegal initiatives;
State substantial compliance will be monitored by a community initiative called ‘Southern Paralegal Network (SPAN)’ which is based on a voluntary system. During the implementation period, the intensive capacity building program will be designed and trained by selected senior lawyers and experts. The program will enable SPAN to carry out best practice and develop an effective monitoring system within the affected villages.
3) Improvement of knowledge and policy development capacities of relevant stakeholders and authorities, aiming to support a sustainable judicial reform process.
To ensure adequate indigent legal services in the future, a series of activities have been designed aiming to increase the collaboration of the state. Adequate financial, practical and legal involvement of the state are crucial factors in promoting a better justice system. Additionally, commission of experts to conduct need-assessment, draft policy options and provide research will support a sustainable reform of the criminal justice system.
Project Partners
The project is being implemented by KAS and its partner organizations: the Cross Cultural Foundation (CrCF) and the Muslim Attorney Center (MAC). Both local partners are renowned for their expertise in this field. In 2008, MAC received an award from the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand for Best Organization in Human Rights Protection. It has further been nominated by the Embassy of France in Thailand for the French Human Rights Prize.
The project coordination is done by the Konrad- Adenauer-Stiftung situated in Bangkok and is run by the Project Manager.
More information on our partners and their past projects can be found under;
1) Cross Cultural Foundation (CrCF) - http://www.crcf.or.th and http://www.voicefromthais.wordpress.com
2) Muslim Attorney Center (MAC) - http://th.macmuslim.com