IBA Pro Bono E-Bulletin

From the Editor
Welcome to our Spring e-bulletin, which features eight articles covering a range of timely themes: pro bono services in the aftermath of disasters, crisis, and conflict; aggregating pro bono hours within firms and investing for maximum impact; leveraging pro bono services for organisations carrying out important charitable work and the Sustainable Development Goals; and understanding pro bono progress in modern Russia. Other countries featured include: Brazil, Columbia, Mexico and South Africa. 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.

Enjoy reading!

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

Featured Articles:

Aggregating pro bono - a case study from South Africa

Helping to achieve the sustainable development goals through pro bono services

Pro bono in modern Russia

Pro bono in the post conflict scenario - the Colombian experience

Investing in pro bono – a case study from Brazil

Pro bono in the face of natural disasters – the Mexican experience after the 2017 earthquakes

Pro bono support in times of crisis – developing a response plan

 

From the files Friday 

A regular feature highlighting a roundup of topical pro bono content from the Pro Bono Committee’s archives.

Previous posts can be found in Resources. 

For the month of June, IBA Law Student Representative Emily Wright reviews international examples of pro bono services for the elderly, who often face intersectional discrimination and greater obstacles to accessing justice:

• Lawyers from several countries worked with Age International to research laws in 12 countries relating to witchcraft in order to inform work against maltreatment whereby elderly women suffer violence and miscarriages of justice. This work was the result of an elderly widow in Burkina Faso suffering vigilante violence and a guilty verdict without a fair trial. See article. 
• To tackle age and other discrimination in Brazil, a pro bono initiative at one firm helps protect human rights and ensure access to legal services as a response to UN Development Program findings about inequality in Latin America. See article.

Latest Articles:

Pro bono in modern Russia

In Russia, pro bono legal services virtually do not occur as a primary activity or an independent practice of a law firm. At present, the role of the government as a provider of free legal services is much bigger than the role of the legal community.

Click here for the full article

Helping to achieve the sustainable development goals through pro bono services

In 2015, the global community formulated and agreed to a new United Nations framework to address global poverty and work towards the three pillars of sustainable development – environmental, social and economic. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) had expired, and while incredible gains had been made to lift millions out of extreme poverty, it was clear that the MDGs had limited impact.

Click here for the full article.

Please see the IBA Pro Bono Declaration.

Please see the IBA website.

Please see the IBA pro bono project for Group Member firms and member bar associations.

Please see the International Rule of Law Directory website.