EUROPEAN PROFILES S.A

TITLE OF PROJECT

JUDICIAL SERVICES AND SMART INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT - Piloting Innovative Provision of Legal Aid Services in Azerbaijan – Private practitioners

Country:

Project Period:

01/2018 – 01/2019

Project Value:

$287.920 (240.760EUR currency conversion at 11/01/2018)

No of Staff Provided:

3 KE 

Origin of Funding:

World Bank

Name of Client/ Beneficiary:

Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Azerbaijan

The objective of the assignment is to assist the MOJ to:

(a) Identify innovative and cost-efficient ways of providing legal aid services, including (i) awareness-raising, (ii) counselling, (iii) mediation, and (iv) (if and as permitted) representation of vulnerable groups, such as IDPs, women, juveniles, minorities, poor and rural/underserved communities;

(b) Identify solutions to overcome barriers and challenges in accessing justice particular to vulnerable groups of the population; and

(c) Develop and implement findings and recommendations to improve access to justice and legal aid services based on an evaluation of the activities implemented.

(d) Conduct monthly data collection to further identify needs and demands which will feed into ongoing provision of services and provide the basis for the recommendations developed

Services Provided:

Provision of legal aid and related services (legal representation if and as permitted), outreach and data collection, financed by JSSIP, will be provided by private practitioners (lawyers).

This model is closest to the one currently in place where only licensed lawyers [who are members of the Bar Association] can provide legal assistance and legal aid services, including representation to (eligible) recipients.

This model is based on the assumption that most of the demand will be for legal representation in court which can only be provided by licensed practitioners.

Specific activities: 

• Identification of licensed lawyers/legal aid services providers – a continuous process
• implementation of the outreach and awareness raising plan
• Provision of legal aid services
• Comparative analysis of legal aid services against good practices
• Updating and revision of the outreach and awareness strategy
• Development of a system of data collection, processing and reporting
• Organisation of a number of workshops where private practitioners, NGOs representatives as well as recipients of legal aid services will participate in order to discuss opportunities and threats, barriers and challenges and ways to overcome them as well as ways of collaboration and recommendations for future actions.
• Promotion of networking to create a sustainable network of ad-hoc “legal clinics”

Name of Partners