International pro bono lawyers

The Australian legal community undertakes a range of international pro bono legal work, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. This work helps to support legal frameworks, and the observance of human rights and the rule of law in our region and beyond.

There are many things for legal professionals to consider when doing pro bono work in this area. We offer some resources here that can help you.

Australian Government initiative—Centre for the Asia-Pacific Pro Bono

The former Australian Government funded the Law Council of Australia to establish and administer the Centre for Asia-Pacific Pro Bono (CAPPB) in 2011. The centre operates as a clearing house to coordinate requests from the Asia-Pacific region for pro bono assistance from Australia. It seeks to match requests from the Asia-Pacific region for international pro bono legal assistance with Australian legal practitioners and law practices. The CAPPB also manages an associated disbursements fund.

Case studies

The following case studies may be of interest to practitioners considering this area of work:

Case Study 1—Freehills and the Lao Bar Association

Case Study 2—Australian Government Solicitor (AGS) legal training in Papua New Guinea

Fact sheets

These fact sheets are designed to help practitioners consider some of the practical issues involved in international pro bono legal work:

Templates

These monitoring templates give guidance to practitioners and organisations when undertaking pro bono projects overseas. The templates are designed to be completed jointly by the pro bono provider and the partner organisation in-country, and to encourage joint planning and review of the activities being undertaken.

It is intended that only those questions applicable to the persons completing the templates need to be answered.

Template 1: to be used to outline the plan for a pro bono activity

Template 2: to assist in reviewing and monitoring an ongoing pro bono activity

Template 3: to be used to document achievements and lessons learnt from a pro bono activity

Template 4: to complement the completion report and gather additional feedback from the in-country organisation

Template 5: to complement the completion report and gather additional feedback from the pro bono lawyer

Additional resources

For more information and additional resources, these links may help:

International pro bono brokers and clearing houses

This list of international pro bono brokers and clearing houses is provided for your convenience.

Please note that this list is not exhaustive. The department is not affiliated with any of the organisations listed below and takes no responsibility for any of the projects proposed or undertaken by them.

Australian-based or with an office in Australia:

Overseas:

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