Legal Assistance

In many countries, Prison Fellowship is coming to the aid of poor prisoners by providing legal assistance to those who cannot afford to pay for the services of a lawyer.

PF Nicaragua providing legal services for prisoners

In 2011, PF Nicaragua formed the Defensoría Social to provide legal counsel to prisoners who may have completed sentences or earned the possibility of release through various legal mechanisms. A team consisting of three volunteer lawyers and eleven law students identify qualifying prisoners and bring their case before the courts.

PF Nicaragua promoting legal assistance for prisoners

In their work with prisoners, PF Nicaragua volunteers often encounter prisoners who have completed their sentences but not been released due to judicial delays as well as other legal issues. In response, the national ministry developed two partnerships resulting in agreements with The Supreme Court of Justice of Nicaragua and the American College University in Managua. The agreements create mechanisms for PF Nicaragua social defense volunteers, aided by law students, to provide assistance to review and process cases.

La C. C. de Nicaragua está promoviendo la asesoría legal para los prisioneros

En su trabajo con los prisioneros, los voluntarios de la C. C. de Nicaragua frecuentemente encuentran prisioneros que ya han cumplido sus sentencias pero que no han sido liberados debido a demoras judiciales así como a otros asuntos legales. En respuesta a ello, el ministerio nacional desarrolló dos asociaciones que resultaron en convenios con la Suprema Corte de Justicia de Nicaragua y con la Universidad Americana en Managua. Los convenios crean mecanismos para que los voluntarios de defensa social de la C. C. de Nicaragua, ayudados por estudiantes de Derecho, proporcionen asistencia legal para revisar y procesar casos penales.

PF Niger providing hope through legal assistance

For several years, PF Niger volunteers have gathered information on prisoners with various legal needs and shared these with a team of legal advisors. Once the information is compiled, PF Niger representatives visit the courts to gather further details on the case. If the matter is simple, the representatives will try to resolve the issues. If this is not possible, the ministry calls upon a team of Christian lawyers to represent the prisoners in court.

Prison Official On OverCrowdedness At Prison

From the article in The Inquirer Online (from Liberia): The Coordinator of Access to Justice and Legal Aid in Liberia has criticized the over crowdedness of prison centers across the country. Rev. Francis Kollie attributed the situation to the lack of access to justice and poor justice system in Liberia.

Legal Aid in Liberia

In a country with only 300 lawyers for an estimated 3.5 million people, PF Liberia’s Legal Aid programme offers hope to those being held on pre-trial detention illegally. For example, programme volunteers facilitated the release of 117 pre-trial detainees from February to June 2009. The volunteer lawyers and lay people, active in four main prisons, collect data on the prisoners in need of assistance, identify necessary evidence and witnesses for court proceedings, and offer mediation services as an alternative mechanism for processing the case.

Providing Legal Assistance in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Responding to the needs of poor prisoners and those being held illegally, PF Democratic Republic of the Congo (PF DRC) has created a juridical committee to identify those in need and provide legal assistance. In early 2009, the committee secured the release of 26 prisoners being held illegally.

Open Court in Prison

For years Prem Kumar, executive director of Prison Fellowship Malaysia, has watched remand prisoners languish in prison as they await trial. Recently, Prem shared his concerns about the situation of 332 remand prisoners with a friend visiting his home. This friend, a former deputy public prosecutor and current Manager of Sabah Courts, decided to see what could be done. He asked Prem to use his role as a Visiting Justice (position created in the Malaysian prison legislation to inspect prisoners) to ask these remand prisoners if they wanted to plead guilty. As a result, the first Open Court session in prison was held on 15 October.

Speaking for the Forgotten

The old adage, “children are to be seen and not heard,” was not supposed to apply to the justice system. Unfortunately, children can often become voiceless victims in an overburdened justice system that is lacking in resources. That is what Vijula Arulanantham, PF Sri Lanka Board chairperson, discovered when visiting a juvenile remand home recently. The children here were not all offenders. Many were victims— street children abandoned or neglected.

An Indefinite Wait for Freedom

“Innocent until proven guilty” doesn’t mean much for the nearly 800 prisoners who are crowded into the dirty, dank prison cells of Liberia’s Monrovia Central Prison. Most have yet to be convicted of a crime – some charged with offences as minor as not paying a bill – but they have languished here for years without a trial.

Freeing Prisoners in Sri Lanka

In Sri Lanka, prisoners held in remand indefinitely are called 'no date' prisoners. While the law requires that they be given the opportunity for bail within two years, many are serving as much as three or four years without trial or a bail hearing according to Vijula Aralanantham, board chairperson of PF Sri Lanka. Responding to many requests for assistance received by staff and volunteers visiting prison, the ministry started the Prison Fellowship Legal Aid Team (PFLAT).

Facilitating Prisoner Releases in Liberia

Recently, PF Liberia aided the release of 36 prisoners held for more than 180 days without trial in Monrovia Central Prison and Kakata Prison Centre.

Assisting Foreign Prisoners in Chile

For several years, PF Chile staff and volunteers noticed the difficulties faced by foreign prisoners in Chilean prisons. Most were in prison for drug trafficking and faced many difficulties in obtaining the necessary legal assistance. In 1998, PF Chile began providing this assistance through it legal department.

Ensuring Due Process for Prisoners in Liberia

Prison Fellowship Liberia is participating in a Case Flow Committee created by the national government to review the cases of prisoners being held without trial. Each week, the committee – consisting of representatives from the United Nations Mission in Liberia, the Ministry of Justice and PF Liberia – reviews cases to identify prisoners who have not been formally charged in court.

Defending the Poor

On the day he was released from prison he began looking for work. He knew his family had suffered during his time in prison and he desperately wanted to begin providing for them again. It was difficult going. Then one afternoon, a few days later, the police came and accused him of committing a robbery in the area. He was summarily arrested and dragged off to prison. As an ex-prisoner, his guilt was readily assumed. Unable to afford legal help, his conviction is all but assured. His situation is bad, and his family’s welfare is worse than ever. He feels totally isolated, forgotten and alone.