Improving access to justice for persons in vulnerable situations in Chad

The Chad situation is characterised by efforts for reform started at the judicial level and the existence of a legislative framework, both of which are still facing numerous obstacles in the implementation of effective access to justice for the population. These obstacles are characterised by a lack of human resources, the need to strengthen the capacities of members of the judicial system and material needs such as, among others, the construction and development of premises dedicated to the judiciary, the improvement of the transport system and the rehabilitation of prisons, which have a direct impact on the quality of the legal aid service delivered to individuals seeking justice. The population knows only very little about its rights. Abuses of power, as well as corrupt practices, are regularly reported, generating a problematic legal uncertainty. The importance of culture and traditions also has a decisive impact on the legal and regulatory framework. The traditional authorities, close to the population and enjoying both strong authority and broad powers, are often the first recourse in the case of problems or conflict. Moreover, the law grants them jurisdiction with regard to conciliation, which is done in application of traditional and customary rules, to the detriment of legal provisions which sometimes contradict these rules. There are very few lawyers in the country and almost all are concentrated in the capital, which makes recourse to their office particularly difficult for groups in vulnerable situations. This observation goes hand in hand with ignorance of the rights of vulnerable persons and weakens access to justice for these groups. The organisations of civil society (OSC) are genuinely committed to the promotion and protection of human rights and to the range of legal advice and judicial assistance services for the realisation of these rights: information, legal awareness, legal advice, referral, mediation and judicial assistance. Even though they number too few to sufficiently cover all of the needs of the population, they represent the main player of legal advice and judicial assistance and are the only ones that have genuine experience in this area. Unfortunately, the irregularity of institutional funding does not allow them to provide their services continuously. The purpose of ASF's intervention in the first instance is to mitigate this situation to a certain extent. Granting funding to the Chad OSCs is the most effective way to ensure that a minimum level of services is effectively delivered to the population. Legal advice and judicial assistance services targeting women, children and/or persons in detention will be established by the organisations with ASF's technical support and follow-up in order to ensure that these particularly vulnerable groups of people have effective recourse during the project. A geographic distribution will be proposed in order to ensure that the services covered by the project are not concentrated in a single region. That being said, the work of the OSCs could gain in efficiency and the quality of legal services can still be improved. Even the most experienced NGOs can make progress in these two areas. The technical support proposed by ASF 1) to assist in the development, implementation and assessment of the projects and 2) to share the legal knowledge necessary for the effective delivery of legal advice and judicial assistance services will make it possible to strengthen the legal advice and judicial assistance services funded as part of the intervention. The workshops for exchanging and sharing experiences will be opened to all those involved in legal advice and judicial assistance services and will set the framework for reflection on the institutionalisation and perpetuation of legal aid. A bill on legal advice and judicial assistance has been submitted to the Ministry of Justice which may be adopted shortly. It is therefore essential that a framework of consultation and coordination between those involved in legal advice and judicial assistance is maintained in order to follow the progress of the measures that will be adopted. However, while the NGOs recognise the importance of this process, originally prompted by them, and wish for their voices to be heard, they admit to having difficulties in coordinating amongst themselves on these issues and are rather favourable to the idea that an external party takes on responsibility for this coordination. The intervention also provides for work on this topic.;