Abdulaziz Darwish

About Abdulaziz

Abdulaziz Darwish is a defense lawyer and a human rights advocate in Aleppo. He has more than 20 years of experience as a lawyer. He has held three significant positions: Secretary-General of the Free Aleppo Bar Association, the Chair of the Board of Directors of National Center for Justice in Syria and the Head of the Aleppo Lawyers’ Training Committee. He remains committed to strengthening the rule of law and protecting vulnerable groups within his community.

The Challenge

Mr. Darwish finds that many citizens and government employees lack awareness of legal rights, which limits their ability to seek and uphold justice. He argues that, frequent refusals and delays in granting accused individuals access to qualified legal representation, has led to violations of human rights. In addition, victims of sex trafficking often face more difficulties in obtaining early legal assistance as there is discrimination against them.

The Innovation: Justice and Truth

Mr. Darwish’s project addresses the lack of legal awareness and delays in accessing early legal representation for accused individuals in Aleppo through legal trainings for justice actors and awareness programs for citizens. Mr. Darwish will work on ensuring that early legal assistance becomes a guaranteed right. The project aims to promote gender equality by encouraging shared and equal representation between genders. In addition, his project aims to advocate for the implementation of modern legal amendments that guarantee and preserve defendants’ rights.