From the Editor - Spring 2019
Welcome to our Spring e-bulletin, which features six articles covering a range of diverse but timely themes: pro bono services for financial inclusion and charitable incorporation; using pro bono and legal empowerment strategies to strengthen access to justice; ensuring the realisation of the non-refoulement principle; advocating for law-related service as part of legislated community service for legal practitioners; and strengthening pro bono technical assistance for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In addition to a global focus through the SDGs, countries featured include: Australia, Brazil, Columbia, Mexico, and South Africa, as well as multi-jurisdictional issues extending to the United States and Democratic Republic of the Congo. These articles provide important insights to help legal professionals around the globe continue to deliver pro bono legal services effectively, efficiently and within the ethos of doing public good, in line with the IBA Pro Bono Declaration. Additionally, they offer insights into issues of importance in a complex world where pro bono services can make the difference between justice and injustice and call on lawyers to utilise their specialised legal skills for the public good.

Enjoy reading!

Pamela Kovacs
International Development Law Organisation, The Hague
pkovacs@idlo.int 

• Tackling financial exclusion through an integrated approach in Australia: a case study of pro bono support

• The regionalisation of pro bono work: legal empowerment of communities as a tool for access to justice

• Pro bono support to realise the non-refoulement principle for Congolese refugee detained in the US

• Your firm is interested in the SDGs - now what? Strengthening pro bono technical assistance through behavioural change

• Current challenges for charitable organisations in Mexico: issues highlighted through pro bono services

• Community service legislated for legal practitioners in South Africa

View past IBA Pro Bono Committee articles here