Lawyers For Change (LFC)

"You the Donor, made this happen!"

Capacity building of 60 lawyers to address cases and claims for entitlements arising from the target groups :

Under Lawyer for Change -A national level meet was organized with 100 lawyers from 9 different states as participants. This Social Justice Lawyers Meet was a three day mega event which saw a long list of eminent lawyers and human rights activist sharing their experiences on alternate lawyering and interacting with community lawyers on different social issues. The workshop had the following key features: Lectures/Panel Discussions by a number of illustrious resource persons Learning and Sharing between participant Lawyers FGDs on Minority Rights

The topics of lectures included issues concerning social justice lawyering like - advocacy for disability rights, legal imagination and human rights litigation, land and environment, Indian democracy and religious minorities, legal intervention in communal violence, the controversy surrounding triple talaq and Uniform Civil Code and the experience regarding triple talaq& Uniform Civil Code etc. The event ended with the participants’ commitment to continue their work towards social lawyering so as to help the vulnerable groups access their rights and entitlements.

 The efforts of CSJ also has brought substantial change in the initiatives, actions, and participation of community members in asserting their rights, raising voice and seeking legal remedies for exploitation and injustice under Lawyer's for Change. Following are a few examples how legal awareness and empowerment have helped people resolve the social issues they face in daily life-

 1) This is the case of a 17 years old girl in Pithora district of Chhattisgarh. She was abducted by two boys who were her acquaintance. Her mother approached us the next day of her going missing. After enquiring about the issue, our unit filed a missing report at the local police station. However, the police failed to take any serious action and so a meeting was done with the Superintendent of Police. A few days later, the girl finally managed to escape and informed us about the entire incident. In accordance with her statement, we made her mother file a case against the two accused under section 363,366, 376 and POCSO. As one of the accused was a minor, he was sent to the shelter home and granted bail, however; the other one was sent to jail. At present, the case is under trial in the court and we are monitoring the same.

 2) Legal advice was given to two victims of Domestic Violence. The applicant has been harassed by her husband and in-laws physically and mentally. She informed that the harassment started since after 2 years of marriage. The applicant was in distress and was seeking to get the custody of her children. The children were with the in-laws and husband. With our support, she filed an application to the Magistrate on grounds of custody, compensation and return of possession of properties she is entitled to. If the respondent agrees upon the demands of the applicant, the case will not proceed further. However, if this does not happen, a Domestic Information Report (DIR) will be filed. As per the rule, the Women and Child Development Department should make an enquiry and submit a report to the Magistrate. The report is yet to be submitted.

 CSJ’s roles in creating impact in the society involved- making the community aware, educate and empower them at one end and creating a cadre of legal workers through fellowships for supporting the community actions and providing grass root level legal assistance at the other.

Continuous capacity building and stakeholder engagement is the strategy adopted by CSJ for putting forward its agenda of legal empowerment. The Government agencies like Labour Department, Women and Child Development Department, Social Welfare Department, Social Security Department etc. are sensitized and engaged in the process of legal empowerment of marginalized communities.

Many local CBOs and NGOs working at the grass root were also reached out to, sensitized and engaged in the process and of creating an enabling environment so that the community feels safe and vested interests are kept away from influencing the affected.