International Bridges to Justice

Myanmar - Despite the security threats that lawyers face due to the military coup, IBJ Myanmar has continued to respond to the justice needs of the country. The IBJ Justice Centers have earned a strong reputation as formidable legal service providers, giving direct legal representation to poor and vulnerable defendants. In 2022, IBJ's Justice Centers represented 1,392 marginalized individuals being accused in 1,510 criminal defense cases. Of the clients 17% were female clients, 10% were juveniles, 2% were members of LGBTQ community and 4% were persons with disabilities. 15% of these cases were directly referred to IBJ from judges, police officers, court clerks or prison officials, demonstrating the mutual trust between justice stakeholders and IBJ. Additionally, to direct high-quality representation, IBJ's legal helplines at each of the five Justice Centers provided 984 holistic legal aid services of which 572 instances of free legal advice for various legal issues of which 25% marital issues, 10% inheritance, 5% land issues, 11% civil lawsuits, 9% monetary issues, 2% labor issues, 4% minor drug abuse issues and 16% estate and property, and 240 active referrals to various psycho-social, healthcare service providers and UN agencies.The Justice Centers also emphasize on raising public legal awareness through 'Know your Rights' campaigns, reaching more than 2,000 individuals of which 60% were female, and client legal empowerment through 'Focused Group' discussions reaching 243 client and families of which 57.2% were female. The program has continued to build the capacity of the lawyers in the country, training more than 1,000 lawyers in 2022. To enhance the awareness of gender issues, and cultivate gender responsive access to justice programs. IBJ organized a national roundtable reaching 88 participants of multi-disciplines on International Women's Day March 8, 2022. IBJ also organized a global international Human Rights Day roundtable recognizing legal aid as a human right and the role of young lawyers and law students in pursuing access to justice reaching 80 participants on December 10, 2022.

Indononesia - IBJ launched our Indonesia program 'Advancing Justice for Women in Indonesia Initiative' in 2020 to address the challenges facing vulnerable minorities, including gender-based violence (GBV), discrimination, and laws that disproportionately affect women. Women lawyers face threats, intimidation and arrest because of their work, and detained women are often subjected to violence and prosecution without legal representation. Since the start of the program, IBJ has established itself as a strong justice actor in the country, building a network of five local Indonesian organizations and JusticeMakers Fellows committed to fighting discrimination. GBV, and the protection of human rights.

China - With China's borders still closed in 2022 due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, IBJ continued to support Chinese lawyers with online training resources. Our China eLearning website currently hosts over 100 modules on topics ranging from basic advocacy skills such as developing a theory of the case, reviewing a case file, and cross-examinations, to more complex topics such as understanding forensic evidence and defending clients with mental or physical disabilities. In 2022, we developed new modules to respond to emerging needs. For instance, with the enactment of the Legal Aid Law, defendants at the death penalty review stage before the Supreme People's Court now have a right to a legal aid lawyer. Since very few lawyers have represented death penalty review clients before, we developed an eLearning module discussing the rights of defense lawyers at the death penalty review, and procedural steps and considerations. As online hearings increased dramatically during the pandemic, we developed an eLearning module on remote advocacy, discussing the challenges of online hearings, how to develop a relationship with a client virtually, and how to deal with witnesses remotely. Our modules attracted over 800 new viewers in 2022, not including returning learners.

Other Program Services - Africa - In 2022, the IBJ programs in Africa demonstrated their dedication to Strengthening the rule of law through providing legal assistance to vulnerables, monitoring of detention centers and police cells, training justice actors and raising rights awareness among ordinary citizens, including detainees and high school pupils during youth school visits on crime prevention. In Burundi, DRC and Rwanda, IBJ has developed strong relationships with key justice stakeholders through roundtables and trainings to 650 criminal justice actors (lawyers, correctional centers agents, judges, judicial police officers, Magistrates), including more than 60% of women. This has enabled and facilitated IBJ to provide legal representation to 1,395 vulnerable arrestees from the police stage including 214 women and 238 children in conflict with law. In DRC and Burundi, Prison and Police Stations officers have immediately released 165 victims of arbitrary arrest during monitoring of police cells and prisons that allowed IBJ team in the two countries to hear and provide with advices to 2,213 vulnerable arrestees.In Burundi, IBJ has also enforced and improved its strategic relationships with justice stakeholders through the renewal on five years of the MoU with the General Inspectorate of National Police, strengthening the partnership with the Ministry of Justice, keeping collaboration with NGOs and CSOs. Thanks to these relationships, IBJ Burundi remains one of the few human rights-related NGOs that works on protecting legal safeguards of vulnerable individuals from the early stage of criminal procedure. To spread legal rights awareness, DRC-IBJ conducted rights awareness campaigns in 3 prisons of Eastern DR Congo (in Walungu, Kalehe and Uvira) on 'Legal Procedure and safeguards of detainees' reaching 868 detainees. RBJ also conducted legal awareness in both schools and prisons.IBJ continued its mission in Syria in 2022 to uphold the rule of law and combat investigative torture. In partnership with the Women International League for Peace and Justice, IBJ empowered a dozen women lawyers by providing legal training and honing their leadership skills. Supported by this initiative, IBJ's women lawyers were able to offer proficient legal counsel, and some were even promoted to judges in an area where women's inclusion is sorely lacking.Additionally, IBJ initiated a new project funded by the European Union in October 2022. This project encompasses several vital components: Capacity Building for Lawyers and Police Officers: IBJ is committed to enhancing the capabilities of legal professionals and law enforcement personnel in Syria, enabling them to provide effective legal representation and ensure just law enforcement practices.