DEVELOPMENTAL

LEGAL ADVOCACY:
Meeting the Challenge of
Relevance and Responsiveness

Eimann Evarola
201513267
DEVELOPMENT MEANS THE
FULL REALIZATION OF
HUMAN RIGHTS
- E. (Leo) D. Battad
The right to development is an inalienable human
right by virtue of which every human person and all
peoples are entitled to participate in, contribute to,
and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political
development, in which all human rights and
fundamental freedoms can be fully realized.
Article 1. Declaration on Right to Development
UN General Assembly, 04 December 1986
 HUMAN RIGHTS
as both a condition and objective of development
Active
PARTICIPATION
both as a means and an end

w/genuine power
 DEMOCRATIC
PARTICIPATION
• Requires condition that include, “a fair distribution
of economic and social power among all sectors
of national society

• Requires genuine ownership or control of

productive resources such as land, financial capital
and technology
 POPULAR
PARTICIPATION
Participation in all stages of the development process:
1. Decision-making concerning development
2. Follow-up and evaluation of development programs
3. Equitable sharing of the benefits of development

Participation in all sectors of a country’s public life and relates

to all aspects of social, political, economic, and cultural affairs
affecting individuals.
 DLA: ITS EARLY
BEGINNINGS
• FLAG, 1974

• Cornerstone: Right of people

to Development

• Aims to secure the

development of the poor
and the oppressed so that
they may participate more
meaningfully in the decisions
and policies that affect their
lives.
 TRADITIONAL LEGAL AID
V.
DEVELOPMENTAL LEGAL ADVOCACY
 TLA DLA

Actor-oriented Structure-oriented
(private issues) (public issues)

Assumes that the law is just

Focused on changing the law
and that injustice results from
and social structures that
the frailties of those who
stifle development
make or enforce the law.
 FLAG LAWYERS
SHARED BELIEFS
• People, not lawyers, should determine what kind of society
they wanted and what changes were needed to achieve it

• These changes were fundamental, not just reforms, and

had to be buttressed by law

• People should organize themselves and work together

with others if they were to gain power enough to make
the changes they wanted
 DLA : THE THEORY
• Vision: Just social structures which would facilitate
development towards the full realisation of human
rights

• Objective: Not just to merely enforce the law but,

more importantly, to change the law and the
underlying social structures which perpetuate or
sustain injustice and inhibits development
 EMPOWERMENT OF THE
MARGINALISED OR
DISADVANTAGED SECTORS
necessary condition
 DLA : THE THEORY

• Strategies

• 1 - Confronting the government as to the

detrimental effects of its policies on the
population and the discrepancies between
rhetoric and international standards on the one
hand; and the reality on the other hand
 DLA : THE THEORY
• Strategies

• II - Helping the marginalized sectors or

disadvantaged groups (informal settlers,
peasants, workers, women, IP) to increase their
awareness of the causes of their problems and
to organize and act other own initiative to
resolve their problems
 DLA : THE PRACTICE

1. Legal services

2. Education

3. Advocacy

4. Networking
 DLA : THE PRACTICE

1. Legal services

2. Education

3. Advocacy

4. Networking
 DLA :
THE PRACTICE -
LEGAL SERVICES (METALEGAL TACTICS)
• Critical analysis of the problem in order to identify its
source or cause of continuance.

• DLA Lawyer informs the clients of their rights and the

limitations of the legal system.

• Encouraging the people to organise and act

collectively with others similarly situated to address
the problem.
 DLA : THE PRACTICE

1. Legal services

2. Education

3. Advocacy

4. Networking
 DLA : THE PRACTICE -
EDUCATION
• Publishing policy issues or legal primers in simplified
terms, using language understood by the people, as
well as conducting paralegal training, seminars, or
workshops.

• Promotion of human rights and DLS by initiating law

students and other lawyers to DLA practice.

• Learning from clients (or groups being represented)

 DLA : THE PRACTICE

1. Legal services

2. Education

3. Advocacy

4. Networking
 DLA : THE PRACTICE -
ADVOCACY
• Taking positions on policies of the government.

• Focus is on the organs of the state, notably the

executive and legislature

• Integral to the rendering of legal services through

litigation and educational activities
 DLA : THE PRACTICE

1. Legal services

2. Education

3. Advocacy

4. Networking
 GROWTH OF DLA IN
THE PRACTICE OF LAW
• DLA evolved in the early 1970s; taken root in legal
organizations in the 1980s
• Alternative Legal Group (ALG) Network - 21 organizations
nationwide
• Alternative Lawyering - viewing law as an indispensable
weave in our social fabric
• Alternative Lawyer - clear professional commitment that the
use of law is not the sole domain of those that have passed
the bar and taken the oath, but could and should be shared
with the individuals, communities, and sectors which it affects
 CONSTRAINTS, DIFFICULTIES,
AND CHALLENGES IN THE AGE
OF GLOBALIZATION
• Threats and harassment from state agents or armed groups

• Working long hours, with inadequate staff support and

dwindling resources

• PH is not ready for Globalization = continuous reproduction if

inequalities and social injustices

• Lack of understanding of human rights, not only among people,

but also among those in the legal profession and the judiciary
PSYCHIC REWARD
#blessed
DEVELOPMENTAL
LEGAL ADVOCACY:
Meeting the Challenge of
Relevance and Responsiveness

Eimann Evarola
201513267