The Alternative Law Forum
(Website: www.altlawforum.org)
Introduction
ALF was started in March, 2000 with the collective belief that
there was the need for a law office in Bangalore given to a practice
of law committed to social and economic justice. Our aim was to
use law to address situations of marginalization and disempowerment
faced by people on the basis of caste, class, religion, gender,
sexuality, disability or any other status. We also resolved that
we would constantly attempt to evolve modes of practice that would
democratize the lawyer-client relationship, as also to evolve
ways of rendering the law accessible to the participation of lay
people. ALF is currently a non-funded organization that is sustained
on the resources obtained from litigation, research as well as
personal contributions.
The objectives that we set up for ourselves as a group include:
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1. To provide legal services to marginalized groups, social movements,
organizations and individuals.
2. To carry out training programs and legal awareness workshops
relating to the rights of various marginalized peoples.
3. To research and document the ways in which the law relates
to subordinated and excluded peoples and groups.
4. To network with movements, NGOs, advocates associations, bar
councils, colleges, the police, the judiciary, so as to impact
and participate in transforming the legal system.
The practise of law
While our objectives were clear the methodology to achieve the
same was not. We were committed to a socially meaningful practice
of law, but what did that mean? Did it mean that we were lawyers
who did human rights work or did it mean that something more needed
to be there? Was lawyering a professional service rendered to
clients or did we see lawyering as being part of and accountable
to a movement? Did we have to relate to our 'clients' differently
or was it a traditional hierarchical relationship? Was 'practice'
of law limited to the courts or did we 'practice' law in other
forums as well? Were other forums more democratic, sustaining
and effective than the court room system?
We are still creatively struggling among ourselves for answers
to these questions through a 'practice of law' however broadly
defined. Some answers on which we have some clarity now are:
We are convinced that socially relevant law practice has to be
politically engaged as well. We have to locate our law practice
in the political context shaped by globalization, the rise of
Hindu fascism and the pervasive inequalities based on gender,
class, caste and sexual orientation. In this sense we are actively
involved in both practice and theories concerning these various
challenges. 'Acceptable' or 'established' legal strategies mesh
with other approaches such as street protests, media interventions,
campaigns, fact-finding reports to participation in people's tribunals.
Based on our practice, one of the key concerns has been to ask
the question as to what is the alternative to the present model
of globalization? How can law provide a critique of the same?
It has been our attempt to adopt practices that are people-friendly
and non-intimidating. One way in which we have tried to do this
is to allow for the availability and flexibility for clients to
approach us whenever there is a need for advice and counselling.
Wherever possible, we have tried to explain the intricacies of
their cases and in doing so also pointed out lacunae in the law.
We have also tried to critically discuss actual justice delivery
mechanisms while discussing probable outcomes.
In some cases involving quasi-judicial authorities, we have encouraged
clients to actively engage in the drafting process so that the
final product is as close to their experience as possible. This
has enabled clients to sift and analyze what are sustainable facts
and to apply specific legal provisions. In other cases, clients
have actually engaged in preparing, stitching and putting together
their petitions as well as moving the case papers through various
branches in the court. All this has helped them to remain in control
of the lawyering process and to understand the system better,
albeit through cynicism and frustration. On the other hand, we
realize too that such flexibility has been enabled through a manageable
volume of litigation, considering our present staff strength and
capabilities. With a growth in the intensity and volume of litigation,
such availability could be compromised.
The work we do
The 'alternative practise of law' to which ALF stands committed
has so far taken the following contours:
Litigation
This remains one of the important areas of our work and we have
done labour, gender and other matters which come to us. We have
recently also started working in the Bangalore Central Prison
and plan to start work in the Juvenile Court. It is a matter of
great concern that poor people (the predominant part of the prison
population) do not have access to quality legal service and our
attempt at filling the gap remains a drop in the ocean.
Alternate Dispute Resolution
This part of our work has achieved institutional focus through
the operation of the Disabilities Cell and the Elders Helpline
once a week. The stress is on resolving disputes without having
to approach the courts using other methods for dispute resolution.
For example the Elders Helpline being located at the Police Commissioners
Office and the Disabilities Cell being located at the Commissioner
for Disabilities, Govt. Of Karnataka has been instrumental in
aiding the process of achieving pre litigation outcomes.
Our work has taught us the value of Alternate Dispute Resolution
mechanisms as seen in the Disabilities Cell and Elders Helpline
wherein the number of cases we have been able to resolve even
prior to litigation as compared to the more expensive, time intensive
and uncertain litigation outcome points to the merit of alternatives
to litigation.
Training
The training related work flows out of an understanding that
empowering people with the knowledge of how to negotiate the legal
system is a step towards client empowerment. With this understanding
we have been doing training programmes on the law with various
marginalized groups including women, NGO's, slum activists etc.
Research
We have started working on a research project on intellectual
property and the public domain which has been enabled through
a research grant by Sarai. The project attempts to critically
examine the emergence of the public domain in India and argues
that with the increase in IPR protection, the public domain may
be under the threat of enclosure. The project specifically seeks
to study the following:
a) IPR and freedom of speech and expression
b) IPR and traditional property resources
c) IPR and new technologies
d) IPR and the new movement
We have just finished a research project on corporate governance
that has documented case studies to illustrate how the existing
legal regime has proved inadequate to address the rights of workers
in the organized sector, especially in the light of opening up
of the Indian economy.
We are presently engaged in a research on gender sensitivity
in community based alternative dispute resolution practices. This
research is enabled through a grant by the Women's Initiative
for Security, Conflict, Management and Peace.
We also plan to research the sexual minority cultures in Bangalore
and initiate a discourse on sexual minority rights through a research
process. We have already contributed to documenting the human
rights situation of sexuality minorities in Bangalore.
Advocacy and legal reform
We have played an active role in the struggle of around 4000
sweepers and cleaners of the Bangalore Municipal Corporation who
are all contract workers who have been denied a basic minimum
wage.
Legal Education
ALF is currently collaborating with the Center for Studies on
Culture and Society on a year long seminar on "law and culture".
The aim of this seminar will be to bring in an inter-disciplinary
approach to looking at some of concerns of our times including
caste, rights, secularism, popular justice etc. ALF has been collaborating
with CSCS for the past two years at different levels and this
is the first attempt at developing a course curriculum which on
law and culture which will be made available to students from
2003. We see this initiative as a serious attempt to bring a fresh
approach into the very idea of legal scholarship and research.
Initiation of public debates around law and society
We have also attempted to initiate a public discourse in Bangalore
in the area of law and society. In this connection we organized
the first Conference on Alternative Lawyering in India with the
objective of both understanding the traditions of Alternative
Lawyering as well as to link up the Alternative lawyering community
in India.
In our quest to understand globalization and think of alternatives
to it, we hosted public talks by Prof. Roberto Unger who put forward
the notion of a 'democratized market economy'
We have also hosted public talks by Zak Yacoob, judge of the
constitutional court in South Africa who initiated a discussion
on the right to housing. We are quite keen on keeping alive public
discourses in Bangalore.
Some of our challenges
In the two plus years of ALF's existence we have faced many challenges.
· Financial sustainability has been one challenge which
the collective has faced since its inception. The ALF collective
has so far sustained itself by resources raised through litigation,
research projects and personal contributions.
· ALF till now has run on the strong commitment of its
members to work among the underprivileged. This depends on having
a stable core of people with such strong commitments which is
difficult to find at the best of times.
· In the link between the micro and the macro we see the
problems we will have to address in the coming days as closely
linked to the increasing intolerance of the Indian state and the
violences inflicted by the processes of globalization. A socially
relevant practice of law will be of increasing importance in the
days to come.
What has emerged quite clearly is that our generation in comparison
to earlier generations has no one ideology by which it swears.
We all come from diverse ideological persuasions and it would
be difficult to establish the centrality of any one way of looking
at the world. Our objective would be to keep the diversity of
viewpoints going and continue to question power and authority
with the aim of making power accountable using the practice of
law.
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ALF can be reached by email at alforum@vsnl.net
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