The ninth and final fellowship will be awarded via the People’s Choice Award. Right now, registered JusticeMakers users have the opportunity to rate each project idea on a 1 to 5 scale on JusticeMakers.net. This affords the global community of lawyers, human rights defenders and interested observers the opportunity to wholly determine the beneficiary of a $5,000 grant.

If you are not registered on JusticeMakers.net, please click here. Complete the free, two minute registration process, and begin evaluating projects immediately. Proposals range both in geography and focus, capturing the efforts of 59 legal aid activists throughout Asia.

Below is a table highlighting the top 20 finalists in the People’s Choice Award, as of May 7th. In the rows you will find the applicant’s username, their overall average, and the total number of ratings that applicant has received.

In 2008 the People’s Choice Award was an immeasurable success. Last year the fellowship was granted to Patrick Dunkwu, a Nigerian lawyer who used a network of volunteers with mobile phones to connect legal aid lawyers with accused people languishing in prisons throughout Lagos. In his year as a JusticeMakers Fellow, Patrick ensured the release of 38 accused people from prison, organised a human rights training program in his local community, and was invited to Ghana to replicate his project, resulting in the training of 18 lawyers and 12 paralegals.

In 2010, the public vote will allow a similarly innovative and relevant project to be implemented. Please stay posted for updated rating data and the final announcement of the winner on May 19th.

Be in Vision Pakistan and Pakistan Lawyers Foundation (PLF)

Be in Vision Pakistan and the PLF, JusticeMakers partners in Karachi, Pakistan, have worked in tandem to promote the competition. They have done outreach in the media, promoted at workshops they hosted and posted information in densely populated and critical areas such as the court house and city hall.

On February 10, The Frontier Post, a widely circulated English newspaper in Pakistan, published the JusticeMakers Press Release with the help of Be in Vision Pakistan and the Pakistan Lawyers Foundation.

The team from Be in Vision Pakistan and Pakistan Lawyers Foundation stand in front of their JusticeMakers banner at the Karachi Bar Association workshop they hosted. 

Pine Tree

Pine Tree is a social justice NGO in La Trinidad, Philippines that focuses on the environmental and cultural rights of indigenous peoples. On January 27th, the launch date of the competition, they hosted an event to raise awareness about the JusticeMakers competition and criminal justice issues. There were 46 participants from both the government and non-governmental sectors, media coverage and student observers from local universities. According to Michael Bengwayan, president of Pine Tree, the event was “lively and participants were enthusiastic. It was very informative and raised a lot of curiosity. In the end, lots of interesting ideas emerged!”

Legal Rights Forum Pakistan

Legal Rights Forum is another criminal justice NGO in Karachi, Pakistan that focuses on providing legal aid and legal rights education. They posted flyers and informational packets in over 60 Bar Associations and Legal Societies throughout Pakistan. They sent over 500 SMS messages to lawyers and NGO officers promoting the competition. In early February they conducted multiple round table discussions highlighting JusticeMakers and facilitated a lecture in a LLM University classroom.

Legal Rights Forum of Pakistan (LRF) hosted a JusticeMakers Launch Event at the Karachi Bar Association, where hundreds of lawyers were in attendance.

Legal Rights Forum of Pakistan (LRF) hosted a JusticeMakers Launch Event at the Karachi Bar Association, where hundreds of lawyers were in attendance.  

Malik Tahir Iqbal, the Founder and Chairman of LRF, gives a lecture to students at the Sindh Muslim Law College in Karachi, highlighting the JusticeMakers Fellowship. 

Translated Press Releases

When we released a press release announcing the 2010 JusticeMakers Competition, we originally only had it an English-language version. However, with the help of our JusticeMakers Partners were were able to get it translated in the following languages: Urdu, Hebrew, Bahasa, Pashto, Taglog, Mongolian, Thai, Nepali, and Russian. If you would like any of these versions, please email JusticeMakers Project Coordinator Liam Hanlon at liam@justicemakers.net.

Once again, thanks to all our partners for their support and dedication in bringing this opportunity to communities throughout Asia. More updates will be coming soon!

This group of 56 partners is as diverse as it is large, covering over 30 countries and advocating for an array of issues. Collaborating with IBJ, they have used both online and offline promotional tools to bring this opportunity into their local legal communities and facilitate participation.

These organizations have stood up among others to say “no” to torture and illegal and arbitrary detainment in developing and transitional countries. An act of generosity, an act of solidarity and an act of strength.

The following JusticeMakers Partners have done an especially diligent job at generating enthusiasm for the competition and getting their communities involved.

http://panepal.org/

Prisoners Assistance (PA) Nepal, a non-profit organization dedicated to penal reform in Nepal, hosted a JusticeMakers event on January 22nd in Kathmandu, Nepal. Collaborating with other JusticeMakers Partners in Nepal-Advocacy Forum, Committee for Social Justice and Women Foundation of Nepal-PA Nepal coordinated roundtable discussions and information sessions to present this Fellowship to legal and human rights activists in the region.

Qadir Foundation

The Qadir Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting human rights in Pakistan, has helped get our press release translated into the hands of many influential newspapers in Karachi and other parts of Pakistan. In addition, the Qadir Foundation has translated the press release into Urdu, helping to get it published in many Urdu media outlets.

Lembaga Bantuan Hukum Masyarakat (LBH Masyarakat)

LBH Masyarakat is a community legal aid institute providing legal services and counsel to those in need in Indonesia. They have taken it upon themselves to promote JusticeMakers to their vast contact list of legal aid NGOs and media personnel in Indonesia, and to translate documents in Bahasa Indonesian.

If I were to detail the extent of support given by each partner, this blog would exceed the limit of acceptable length. That is what has been so special about the 2010 Competition – every partner has voluntarily gone the extra step to ensure this opportunity is available to anyone that could benefit from it.

Please check out our JusticeMakers Partners Page to learn more about the commitment of our generous partners to systemic social change.

Thanks again to everyone who continues to fight injustice wherever it may be. Justice can’t wait.

Organizations also have the opportunity to partner with the 2010 JM Competition, helping to generate and facilitate participation. With customized promotional materials and ongoing support from JusticeMakers staff, you will find partnering to be a straightforward and painless process. Some organizations such as Echoing Green, Global Giving, Give2Asia, Asian Philanthropy Forum and 1-Focus have already gotten involved in the competition and extended their support. Click here for more information on how your organization can be a part of the ’10 Asia JusticeMakers Competition.

For a glance at the other ideas of the 2008 JusticeMaker Fellows, click here. Rommell Alim Abitria is one of those fellows, implementing a paralegal project in the Philippines. Rommell has witnessed barriers to the delivery of justice first-hand, particularly where individuals could not afford access to counsel or were unaware of their rights. With the help of IBJ and JusticeMakers, he is tackling these issues by training inmates to become paralegals who can represent themselves in court and advise their peers. Click here to learn more Rommell’s project.

2010 JusticeMakers Fellows will be flown to the Singapore Criminal Justice Training Center (SJTC) to receive initial training from the JM panel of judges prior to the beginning of their project. In addition, during the implementation of their project, IBJ will provide Fellows with documentary photojournalists to record and raise the profile of their efforts.

The 2010 JusticeMakers Competition is tentatively scheduled to begin in January 2010 and conclude in May 2010.

For more information, contact liam@justicemakers.net

Using innovative and interactive exercises, the training focused on increasing the capability of local lawyers to provide competent defenses to accused persons, of which has been a problematic issue for many Zimbabweans. They explored a plethora of legal concepts such as cross-examination and procedures to prevent torture against prisoners, helping the participating lawyers in garnering invaluable skills and experience. Summarizing the training for many, one of the participants concluded, “this has made us believe that it is not extraordinary men and women who change the course of history, but ordinary men and women with extraordinary skills and beliefs.”