Paralegals & Legal Secretaries

Paralegals Call For Legal Recognition in Indonesia

By Jeannie Sapp Johnston

A paralegals guild has called on the Indonesian government to sanction it as a body providing legal aid for poor and marginalized people.

Ismail Hasani, a member of the group Paralegal Indonesia, on Tuesday urged the House of Representatives to pass a bill on legal aid, which would give the paralegals legal standing. ?Once the bill is passed, then paralegals? role in legal aid will be acknowledged,? he said at a seminar.

The bill, submitted to the House last year in the expectation it would be passed into law this month, has since been delayed indefinitely.

Paralegals were needed, Ismail said, to provide justice for those with limited or no access to legal representation, often those from poor or marginalized communities.

?Community paralegals are like social activists that dedicate themselves to help others,? he said. Tuesday?s seminar was held to bring together paralegals ?who are scattered and do not yet have a solid organization.?

Paralegals could include farmers ?who also help the community whenever there is injustice,? Ismail said.

?We all know there?s no way a lawyer would climb up and down mountains to meet with members of remote communities,? he added.

The seminar was expected to help establish an organization that would give the paralegals better access to society at large, he said, adding that once the legal aid bill was passed, there would be several regulations on ethics and certification for paralegals to comply with, and greater clarity on their duties.

This is expected to end the problem of unscrupulous individuals pretending to be paralegals but operating for their own benefit, Ismail said, adding that this practice damaged the reputation of the real paralegals working in the field.

Diani Sadiawati, director of justice and human rights at the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), said the government had already acknowledged the role that paralegals played in the community.

?Paralegals are important to make sure that society is afforded legal aid, as well as to promote civil society movements in increasing awareness of protection and respect for human rights,? she told the seminar.

She added that paralegals were a necessary group because they facilitated community empowerment in the legal sphere.

Denny Indrayana, a presidential adviser on legal affairs and member of the Judicial Mafia Eradication Task Force, said there were many injustices taking place in Indonesian society, including the arrest and conviction of innocent people.

Because of that, paralegals were crucial in ensuring that all members of the community had access to justice, he said.

?Improvements in the regulations [governing paralegals] is needed, but [ensuring justice] is more important because the fight against injustice is endless,? Denny said.

?There will always be new challenges.?

Mami Yulie, chairwoman of the Transvestite Communication Forum, said she joined the seminar to increase her knowledge as a paralegal for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual community.

The forum, in collaboration with Arus Pelangi, a prominent nongovernmental organization involved in LGBT issues, provides legal aid to the community.

?We?ll give training and legal knowledge to [the LGBT] community in other regions,? Mami told the Jakarta Globe.

Source: JakartaGlobe

Related posts:

1. Paralegals Join Legal Aid Society and Help Locals Get Back On Their Feet
2. 13 Paralegals Facing Layoffs from RI Legal Services
3. Paralegals Included in Recognition by the City of Atlanta

Full post as published by ParalegalGateway Blawg on March 30, 2011 (boomark / email).