Metro Manila, Philippines – The Supreme Court approved rules to recognize groups of public interest lawyers in their efforts to provide services to those who are unable to avail of them.
In expanding the Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations 2022-2027, the court backed organizations and lawyers that have dedicated their legal assistance for grassroots cases and expanded “access to justice for marginalized sectors and communities.”
Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, who was at the dialogue, cited legal empowerment as one of the characteristics of the rule.
“Our question is – How do we shift the structure, how do we use the law in order to change the status quo?” he said.
For the accreditation process, the court said an organization must have been operating for at least five years as a non-profit group, engaging in development and social change (DSC) lawyering to the underserved and disadvantaged communities and identities.
An accredited organization will be given benefits such as financial support, exemption from paying litigation fees, facilitated compliance with Unified Legal Aid Service Rules, and protection against strategic lawsuits against public participation.
The attached unit of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines National Center for Legal Aid and DSC council will oversee the applications.
Meanwhile, the financial aid to be disbursed will be provided by the DSC fund.
This is partly funded by the SC from its regular budget, and other resources such as donation, contribution, and grants from private entities.
The SC said more than half of the grant to an organization will be used for personnel support, while 40 percent is for programs, activities, and projects.
“These milestones do more than modernize professional regulation,” University of the Philippines Law dean Gwen Grecia-De Vera said in the forum. “They elevate access to justice from aspiration to the justiciable, enforceable right anchored on social justice and human dignity.”
