The project Support to the Legal Aid in Lebanon has been developed by La Sagesse University, one of the leading universities of Beirut, through its Human Rights Legal Clinic and its Research Centre, in partnership with the European Research Institute. The aim of the project – that started in 2015 and is still in progress – is to improve the overall performance of legal aid delivery in Lebanon.
The situation is particularly worrisome in prisons and detention centers where, due to the increase in the number of detainees in the light of the massive influx of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, inmates have less opportunity to take advantage of a quality legal aid service. The inaccessibility to a quality legal aid service leads to a breach to the principles of fairness and justice and to a very long wait for detainees before trials.
The project aims to:
- empower the different stakeholders involved in the legal aid system by strengthening their capacity to provide quality legal aid services;
- institutionalize and modernize the legal aid structures implemented by local Non-governmental organizations;
- enhancing access of marginalized population to quality legal aid services;
- transferring EU knowledge and best practices in matters related to legal aid in Lebanon.
The fourth goal will be ensured by ERI which will bring its expertise to provide local players with the opportunity to develop an effective and functional system of rules and procedures, looking at the highest European and international standards relating to legal aid services. This endeavour led by the La Sagesse University along with ERI and the other partners in Lebanon and abroad will empower all relevant stakeholders to extend their legal aid services and improve its quality and provide necessary support and expertise on an institutional level, helping in the promotion of international human right standards through their incorporation within the Lebanese legal aid system.