INTRODUCTION
Lawyers have played a significant role in the history of people’s struggles to seek freedom and social justice. We can see this today in countries such as Pakistan, Malaysia, and the Philippines, former colonies still in transformation to free and independent countries no longer subject to neo-colonialism. Lawyers in those countries are struggling-in and out of the legal fora- to resist the repression and corrupt practices of states which continue to further the interests of the rich and powerful in societies which are demonstrably unjust. Today we can see the extent to which authoritarian regimes such as that in another former colony, Fiji, fear and repress the lawyers and courts who make it more difficult to rule by diktat.
We should also remember the history of major imperialist powers such as the UK and USA, for much of the legal armoury used by lawyers in the countries I have mentioned, was forged and tempered in those two countries several hundred years, or more, ago. In England, the lawyers who helped create the common law and, in early modern times, established rights against state power that are the basis for much of the resistance to state authority we see in the contemporary world. And it was in the American colonies, that rebellious citizens and their lawyers successfully challenged the imperial power of Britain in the streets and in the colonial courts, asserting their rights against illegal searches and restrictions on the freedom of speech being critically exercised by the radical colonial press. In a sense, as the modern, imperialist state has been constituted, the progressive lawyers have been summoned to battle. They have responded with great courage and determination.
Each country has its own forms of what we have called elsewhere “resistance lawyering” i.e. the law work that lawyers do on behalf of those fighting for justice and human rights, and against exploitation and repression whether by governments and their operatives ; the structures and agents of corporate capital; or other bodies/individuals of civil society. After spending some time recently in the Philippines researching the history of progressive lawyering in that country, I came to the conclusion that a better term, and focus of study, is what the Filipino’s call “people’s lawyers”. Of course “lawyers for the people” is a term/concept which has been used in other countries over the years, along with “public interest” lawyering. In this paper I will try to indicate the specific nature of the understanding and practice of Filipino “people’s lawyers”.
INTRODUCTIONLawyers have played a significant role in the history of people’s struggles to seek freedom and social justice. We can see this today in countries such as Pakistan, Malaysia, and the Philippines, former colonies still in transformation to free and independent countries no longer subject to neo-colonialism. Lawyers in those countries are struggling-in and out of the legal fora- to resist the repression and corrupt practices of states which continue to further the interests of the rich and powerful in societies which are demonstrably unjust. Today we can see the extent to which authoritarian regimes such as that in another former colony, Fiji, fear and repress the lawyers and courts who make it more difficult to rule by diktat. We should also remember the history of major imperialist powers such as the UK and USA, for much of the legal armoury used by lawyers in the countries I have mentioned, was forged and tempered in those two countries several hundred years, or more, ago. In England, the lawyers who helped create the common law and, in early modern times, established rights against state power that are the basis for much of the resistance to state authority we see in the contemporary world. And it was in the American colonies, that rebellious citizens and their lawyers successfully challenged the imperial power of Britain in the streets and in the colonial courts, asserting their rights against illegal searches and restrictions on the freedom of speech being critically exercised by the radical colonial press. In a sense, as the modern, imperialist state has been constituted, the progressive lawyers have been summoned to battle. They have responded with great courage and determination.
Each country has its own forms of what we have called elsewhere “resistance lawyering” i.e. the law work that lawyers do on behalf of those fighting for justice and human rights, and against exploitation and repression whether by governments and their operatives ; the structures and agents of corporate capital; or other bodies/individuals of civil society. After spending some time recently in the Philippines researching the history of progressive lawyering in that country, I came to the conclusion that a better term, and focus of study, is what the Filipino’s call “people’s lawyers”. Of course “lawyers for the people” is a term/concept which has been used in other countries over the years, along with “public interest” lawyering. In this paper I will try to indicate the specific nature of the understanding and practice of Filipino “people’s lawyers”.
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