03/09/2009

Universal access to justice might well be a right enshrined in the Somaliland constitution. But this is likely to remain wishful thinking as long as the legal system  lacks professionals, a vast majority of the population does not know their rights and many can not afford the costs of formal legal proceedings. Added  to this is a complex mix of non written customary law and formal law, sometimes complementary but often contradictory and it is obvious why people in Somaliland will think twice about taking a matter to court.

The Legal clinic, the Somaliland Women’s Lawyers’ Association and the Sexual Assault Referral Center in Hargeisa, bothl organizations established with UNDP Somalia’s support,  are at the forefront to reform the administration of formal justice in Somaliland. Together, they work to ensure that all sections of the population, including the most disadvantaged, have access to justice.  In addition to dealing with the immediate needs of the economically disadvantaged  in terms of legal aid,  they also  in effect professionalize a still weak judiciary branch, by training legal professionals, giving them an opportunity to practice and build a body of knowledge on legal matters.

The Legal Clinic focuses on the most economically disadvantaged populations.  Its students and staff provide free legal services to  women, children, the poor, the elderly, people from minority groups and people with disabilities .The Clinic also carries out outreach services activities by visiting weekly  six Internally Displaced Persons  (IDPs)camps around Harigeisa and the Refugee Welfare Centre  to identify refugees and IDPs in need of legal aid. Most of the Legal Clinic activities are carried out in Hargeisa but there are also mobile lawyers in Togdheer, Sahil, Adwal and Sanag. In 2009, the Legal Clinic received  475 cases. Some of them involved court representation, mediation and intervention  in police stations, and some of them are still pending.

When it comes to making a long term impact of reforming the formal legal system, the Legal Clinic, being part of the faculty of Law of the Hargeisa University,  aspires to be the breeding ground for the country’s legal professional and community leaders in Somaliland. Its 275 students – of which 75 are UNDP sponsored students –  will be the professionals to strengthen Somaliland administration of  justice system.Hand in hand with the Legal Clinic, the Somaliland Women Lawyers Association (SWLA)  is involved in providing legal access to women and children in Somaliland.

Being the first female lawyer association in the whole of Somalia, it  promotes the full participation of women lawyers in the legal profession and improves the status of women in society by assisting them to exercise their equal rights. This is no small task in a country where customary law is strong and is solely rendered by men, and can overrule formal law. Even when it comes to the formal legal system, women are rare:  currently there are no women investigators, prosecutors or judges in Somaliland. According to Hodane Muhammud Ali, Coordinator at the SWLA, education is not the problem – joining the faculty of law and graduating as a lawyer - but the problem is that female lawyers are not given  job opportunities.  She stated that clients seeking legal aid would not turn to a woman lawyer, even when the client is a woman .
To assist new graduates to overcome the prejudices and start their career, the SWLA runs an internship programme for new female law graduates, placing them with various justice sector institutions such as the district court, the appeal court, the regional court, the Attorney General office, the Legal Clinic,  law firms and SWLA, for a minimal period of six months. The internships and the work of the 17 members of the SWLA are slowly changing attitudes and perceptions. Additionally, 27 new female law graduates joined the internship programme in August 2009.

 
When it comes to widening access to justice, the SWLA provides free legal aid to poor women who are victims  of gender based violence – mostly rape and domestic violence but also sexual exploitation, infanticide, child abandonment and harmful traditional practices such as genital mutilation, forced marriage and inheritance traditions.  Sexual violence including child rape is a growing trend in Somaliland with 112 rapes reported in 2008 against 45 in 2006 , although it is hard to deduce from these figures whether more rapes are being committed or more cases are being reported. The association provides them with legal advice, counseling, writes court briefs for them and represent them in court.  

In the cases of gender based violence, the Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) kicks in,  working specifically on gender based violence, providing medical care and counseling to the victims (listen here to the interview with Shukri Ahmed, Police Investigator at the SARC ). Victims also have the opportunity to report the assault to the police for investigation and have access to the Legal Clinic for free legal advice and representation. In the first six months of 2009, SARC dealt with 65 cases of sexual violence against women and men. As SARC’s work became known in the community, more rape cases have been reported and groups like religious leaders have started  to speak out against rape – when they would not traditionally address this issue. In one occasion, residents of Hargeisa came together to pray for rain and the imam condemned the perpetrators as well as those in the community who protect them -  an encouraging step for those organizations in Somaliland which are engaged in changing perceptions of the legal system and reforming its functioning.