Project Title: Establishment of Legal Aid Service to Low-Income Population

(at support of Embassy of the United States of America in RT, International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, Justice Sector Reform Program)

• Objective Defining:

The objective of the proposed project is establishment of legal aid service to low-income population on the base of public-preventive centers under the hukumats of 4 districts of Dushanbe.

The Period of the realization of the project: May 2009 - a May 2010.

• Problem Defining

The socio-economic situation in Tajikistan still remains difficult. Economic development problems reflected the quality of population life. Growing inflation, sharp reduced employment level and reduction of real income taking place in short period of time stipulated polarization of society to incomes and spreading of poverty for many population categories.
Despite that Poverty Reduction Strategy was developed and accepted in Tajikistan, unfortunately 60% of population live in poverty. This problem remains actual although state and international organizations as well as some NGO are involved to implementation of the Strategy.
Low-income population has so many problems because of their legal illiteracy and/or limited access to legal aid. The low-income population does not appeal to legal aid because of lack of funds; legal counseling is very expensive and qualified lawyers are not interested in free consultancy.
Practice shows the necessity to provide legal counseling at earlier stages of conflict beginning, i.e. before the problem turns to trial.
One of approaches in solution of social problems is functioning of number of crisis centers on provision consultative legal aid to the population. One of such crisis centers is functioning since 1996 under the association “Women of Science of Tajikistan”. The crisis center provides legal, medical and psychological aid. There is great number of appeals for legal issues: acknowledgement of property law, release of a part from the common property rights, privatization of living space, eviction of non-resident relatives; many appeals on protection of consumers’ rights, divorcement, inheritance, restoration to the job and others.
As a rule, activity of crisis centers is not connected with local community where information is mainly focused on existence of poor families that need legal aid.
Taking this into account, the association “Women of Science of Tajikistan” cooperates with Hukumat of Dushanbe on establishment of public-preventive centers as well as self-supporting groups in mahallas under the hukumats of four districts of Dushanbe. Activity of these structures indicates that they have the database on poor families at the supervised territory which need improvement of their legal literacy and free consultative aid on socio-legal problems. The Consultative Council is functioning under the association “Women of Science of Tajikistan” which involves representatives of Dushanbe Hukumat, Ministry of Home Affairs, General Prosecutors Office, Ministry of Justice, National Reproductive Health Center, mass media, local NGOs on human rights, psychologist, lawyer, doctor.
Work experience with these structures shows that in provision of various forms of assistance including legal aid it is necessary to be based on such kinds of cooperation and interaction which can be effective and give opportunity to reveal the poor population.
Proceeding from this, in defining the objectives and tasks of the proposed project the given approach was used.

• Tools of Objective Achievement:

• Conduction of survey to reveal the needs and wishes of the beneficiaries in order to provide access to justice for the poor population and protection of human rights in the Republic of Tajikistan.
• Selection of target groups in four districts of Dushanbe at two levels to improve the legal education:
• Presence of knowledge in law (15 people)
• Absence of knowledge in law (15 people)
• Conduct trainings for consultants-lawyers under the public-preventive centers.
• Conduct of educational trainings in target  groups regarding their qualification level for further involvement to the work of public-preventive centers.
• Establishment of legal aid service on the base of public-preventive centers; task of the service will include provision of written and verbal consultations on all legal issues, designing complaints, petitions and other juridical documents; preparation and publishing of analytical reports of the legal aid service consultants; establishment of database of poor population which needs legal aid.
• Support of the Consultative Council activity under the association “Women of Science of Tajikistan” consisting of representatives fron general Prosecutors Office, hukumats, self-support groups, doctors, mahalla councils and others.
• Continuation of consultative service provision to the people in emergency situations through the work of the Crisis Center and Hot Line under the association “Women of Science of Tajikistan”.
• Development and publishing of information-explanatory literature, notes and etc. on improvement of legal literacy in order to distribute among the poor population.
• Development of a complex approach for further solution of problems connected with legal literacy and provision of aid to the poor population by the project executors (Consultative Council members, public-preventive centers representatives legal aid service consultants and Hot Line).

Main methods of the work:
spoken receiving the people in public-preventive centre, consideration of the written referencing the people and rendering to him help in realization of their rights, propaganda legislation.

Implementation of the project will facilitate further development and effective use of the following activity of the Association “Women of Science of Tajikistan”:

• Increase of the population educational level on human rights protection;
• Protection of women and children’s rights by rendering consultative-legal aid. As a result, 4 consultative offices of the legal aid service will be set up in Dushanbe. These offices will solve the socio-legal issues of the poor population and will be as an interlink between state structures and citizens in organizing joint forces of counteraction of human rights violation. In future such services will be recommended for spreading in different regions of the Republic of Tajikistan.