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International practice of PublicLegal Education: a missingelement in the justice system ofBangladeshTaslima Yasmin aa Senior Lecturer, School of Law, BRAC University ,BangladeshPublished online: 27 Sep 2012.

To cite this article: Taslima Yasmin (2012) International practice of Public LegalEducation: a missing element in the justice system of Bangladesh, Commonwealth LawBulletin, 38:3, 467-483, DOI: 10.1080/03050718.2012.694998

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International practice of Public Legal Education: a missingelement in the justice system of Bangladesh

Taslima Yasmin*

Senior Lecturer, School of Law, BRAC University, Bangladesh

Public Legal Education (PLE) is a recently developed international practicewhich aims at providing nationwide legal education and information servicesto the public by way of a variety of innovative methods. Compared to itspresence in a number of developed countries, the practice of PLE is not verycommon in least developed and developing countries such as Bangladesh.However, its impact on the process of legal empowerment could be transfor-mative. This article thus attempts to assess the necessity and the prospect ofintroducing PLE in Bangladesh. In doing so, the concept of PLE will be ana-lysed first, focusing on the various methods that are applied for its delivery.Considering the presence of comprehensive PLE practices, the PLE frame-work in two other jurisdictions – Canada and Australia – will then be exam-ined in order to achieve a comparative view on the subject. Upon analysingthe relevance of PLE, the article will finally propose a number of key recom-mendations to introduce a PLE framework into Bangladesh.

1. Introduction – Public Legal Education as a concept

Public Legal Education (PLE) is a relatively new concept in the internationaldomain. It is used to describe a variety of services that are aimed at creatinglegal literacy among the general public through different innovative methodsthat are able to reach their understanding. PLE is not the only term used forsuch initiatives; they are also referred to by terminologies such as ‘LawRelated Education’ in New Zealand, or ‘Community Legal Education’ in Aus-tralia. ‘Public Legal Information’ is also frequently used for various PLE-related programmes.

As most of the commentators suggest, it is difficult to define the term PLEwith any precision. In most of the studies and materials PLE has been definedby what it does and not by what it is. According to the definition of a 2007Report of the Public Legal Education and Support Task Force of UK:1

*Email: taslima47@yahoo.com; taslimayasmin@bracuniversity.ac.bd1Developing Capable Citizens: The Role of Public Legal Education, Report of PublicLegal Education and Support Task Force, UK (July 2007) 9 <http://www.pleas.org.uk/uploads/PLEAS%20Task%20Force%20Report.pdf> last accessed 12 December 2011(hereinafter referred as PLEAS Task Force Report).

Commonwealth Law BulletinVol. 38, No. 3, September 2012, 467–483

ISSN 0305-0718 print/ISSN 1750-5976 online� 2012 Commonwealth Secretariathttp://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03050718.2012.694998http://www.tandfonline.com

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PLE provides people with awareness, knowledge and understanding of rights andlegal issues, together with the confidence and skills they need to deal with disputesand gain access to justice.

This definition does not answer the questions of what the term means or why itis so called. Similarly the Department of Justice of Canada defines PLE in itsofficial website as the ‘activities’ that ‘provide members of the public with thelegal information they need to make informed decisions and participate effec-tively in the justice system’.2

Probably the reason for defining PLE in such a way is that each of the wordsin the term PLE depends for its interpretation on the individual mandate of a par-ticular PLE body. As for instance, a PLE provider whose mandate is to equip thecitizens with the legal knowhow for taking a self-help approach to their everydaylegal problems, will define the term differently than a PLE body whose aim is toempower the disadvantaged population with the knowledge of their legal rightsand responsibilities. However, the ultimate goal of conveying legal knowledge tothe people is common in every PLE-related service and it is this element thatlinks each of these services despite their having different names.

Also, because of the difficulties in defining the term PLE, it is oftendescribed by the various services and activities of the PLE-providing organisa-tions ranging from one-page pamphlets to online electronic services. Thus thequestion often arises whether PLE is a concept or a description of the services ofthe particular organisations. One report of the former Canadian Law InformationCouncil noted that PLE ‘is both a concept and a description of the services thathelp people learn about the law’.3 The report further pointed out the rationale fordescribing PLE in such a way by noting that:

Trying to pin PLE down to a concept-based definition ignores the diversity of ser-vices actively providing information on the law. Yet, concentrating on the service-based aspects of PLE ignores the real commitment to the principles of a democraticand equitable justice system.4

This is indeed a right approach to define the term PLE. A description of the ser-vices can provide a clearer perception about a particular PLE programme and atthe same time defining the term as a concept can bring out the real motivationsand commitments for that service.

One attempt has been taken in this field by Gander to define each of thewords that make up the term PLE, although she noted that ‘the ideas of “public”,“legal” and “education” are fluid and are viewed differently at various times andin various contexts’.5 Following Gander, this paper has also found it important

2Department of Justice, Canada <http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/pi/pb-dgp/prog/plei-pvij.html> last accessed 21 October 2011.3People and Law: A Blueprint for PLE Service, Canadian Law Information Council(1988) 4; cited in P Pitsula, Review of the Role of Public Legal Education in the Deliveryof Justice Services, Report submitted to the Vancouver Ministry of the Attorney General(2002) 2.4Ibid.5L Gander, ‘The Radical Promise of Public Legal Education in Canada’ (Masters thesis,University of Alberta 1999) 13.

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to discuss each of these terms separately to achieve a clearer understanding ofthe concept of PLE.

The word ‘public’ in PLE ‘consists of multiple publics with multiple perspec-tives and multiple interests’.6 Hence it refers to both ‘general public and specificsectors of it’.7 Consequently, some PLE services can be directed to the people atlarge e.g. a national TV show on legal information; or it may be designed for aparticular group or community e.g. face-to-face training or workshops on legaleducation.

The word ‘legal’ in Public Legal Education simply refers to law related edu-cation. However, as Gander suggested, even though the main focus of PLE isthe black letter law it also ‘covers the broader terrain of legal philosophy, theory,history, law making, the administration of justice, social policy-development andreform. It also ventures into the domains of dispute resolution, restorative justiceand other means of achieving justice’.8 Since law is intrinsically related to thisbroader terrain, PLE cannot limit itself to only substantial or procedural law.Giving information on the law thus inevitably attracts the need to throw light onall these aspects, without which the ultimate goal of PLE to educate people aboutthe law cannot be complete.

The word ‘information’ is sometimes used in place of ‘education’ in PLE.However, considering the goal of PLE, the word ‘education’ appears to be moresuitable; since PLE is more than just giving ‘information’ about law to the people,it ‘encompasses the development of knowledge and understanding about justicesystem’.9 Bannatyne had also focused on this particular aspect of a public legaleducation service as opposed to a public legal information service. According tohim, ‘law related education to some extent is a form of legal information but dif-fers in that it provides such detail guidance, contextual information and advice toits audience so as to enable the audience to gain a greater understanding’.10

2. Why Public Legal Education?

2.1. The ‘rationale’ for PLE

The principal rationale for all PLE activities is that since laws are for the peoplethey should be made known to the people. PLE makes law and the legal systemmore accessible by educating people about their rights and duties and increasingtheir understanding of the overall working of the legal system. Thus, ‘in itsbroadest sense, PLE captures the essence of accessible justice’.11 The 1979 Lawfor the Layman Committee Report (cited in a 1997 Report of the Department ofJustice Canada) described the following rationales for PLE:

61997 Public Legal Education and Information (PLEI) Review: Tools for Moving For-ward, an examination conducted for the Programs Branch, Department of Justice Canada(1997) 33 (hereinafter referred to as 1997 PLEI Review).7L Gander, ‘The Changing Face of Public Legal Education in Canada’ (2003) 6 CanadianCivil Justice Forum 4.8Ibid.9Ibid.10T Bannatyne, ‘Social Exclusion: A Role of Law’ presented at the 5th InternationalLegal Services Research Centre Conference (2004) 155.111997 PLEI Review (n 6) 12.

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First, the individual needs an understanding of the law and legal process in orderto function effectively on a day to day basis and in order to carry out his/herresponsibilities toward the legal system.

Second, The legal process itself requires an informed and involved citizenry if it isto function democratically and within acceptable limits.12

PLE thus helps create an informed citizenry able to understand and effectivelydeal with the justice system, which in turn helps the system function more effec-tively. It ensures greater access to law by helping ‘the public to understand thatthe justice system is a public institution – that they are not just the beneficiariesof the system but the stewards of it’.13

2.2. Strengthening rule of law and participatory democracy

‘It is a fundamental requisite of the rule of law that law should be made known.The individual must be able to know of his legal rights and obligations'.14 A leg-ally empowered citizenry encourages governments to act within legal limits andspeaks out against any wrong or deprivation of their legal entitlements. This inturn ensures rule of law in the society – the prerequisite of a true democracy.

An informed citizenry is also better positioned in forming its own opinion inthe state’s decision-making process, thereby strengthening participatory democ-racy. Rivard has also emphasised this role of PLE by holding that ‘in a participa-tory democracy, citizens are invited to be active in choosing their governmentand in affecting the government policies. To do so requires a knowledge of themechanisms of the law and the accepted avenues of change within our society',15

which can be achieved through PLE.

2.3. Upholding social justice

PLE works in favour of the disadvantaged, as it empowers them with legalawareness, which helps them to stand against the social injustices that cause theirsituation. ‘A general sense that wrongs can be righted for the individual and forcommunities leads to a greater sense of social justice’.16 There will only beefforts to remove any injustice when one is aware of what he/she is legallyentitled to and realises that he/she is being deprived of that legal entitlement.Thus, by creating awareness of the law and the legal system, PLE strives toensure legal empowerment for the poor, for the vulnerable and for those who aredeprived of any social benefits.

12Ibid.13Gander (n 7) 4.14Mr Justice Burton: R (Salih and Rahmani) v Secretary of State for the Home Depart-ment [2003] EWHC 2273 (Admin) 24, cited in ‘Towards a National Strategy for PublicLegal Education, a Discussion Paper’ (2004) 1 <http://www.asauk.org.uk/fileLibrary/pdf/PLE_Consultation_paper.pdf> last accessed 16 November 2011.15G Rivard, ‘The “Public” in Public Legal Education’ (1980) 4 Canadian CommunityLaw Journal 35.16PLEAS Task Force Report (n 1) 10.

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The recent UK Task Force report also acknowledged the role of PLE inachieving social justice. It concluded that,

PLE encourages respect for the law by helping people understand it and encourag-ing them to engage with the legal system to secure improvements to their dailylives. Such engagement helps overcome negative social myths, and allows citizensto see how the law treats people fairly (and when it does not).17

In this way, PLE contributes in building ‘community cohesion’ and reduces‘social exclusion’ of the disadvantaged communities.

2.4. Demystifying laws

Although law touches upon every aspect of people’s lives, people generally have‘a sense of alienation from the law’.18 Law tends be to perceived as ‘abstractand specialist’,19 something which belongs solely to lawyers. This may beaccorded to ‘the very nature of the legal system – mysterious, arcane, expensive,protective of privilege, which creates a need for sophisticated skills in order tonavigate its murky often treacherous water’.20 Thus, ‘the potential of public legaleducation lies in showing the practical and everyday dimension of the law’.21

Hence, Gander commented that ‘PLE has helped to dispel myths about the jus-tice system and encouraged people to seek legal redress where appropriate’.22

2.5. Increasing public efficiency to deal with legal problems

Lack of knowledge or understanding of the law and the legal system can affect theability to deal with a legal problem in the right way. A 2007 survey of the LegalServices Research Centre of UK found that ‘there is a strong association betweenknowledge of rights and processes and success in dealing with legal problems –lack of knowledge and awareness links strongly to negative consequences’.23 Bycreating legal awareness, PLE thus enables the public to deal with legal disputesmore efficiently, ‘make better decisions and anticipate and avoid problems, becausethey understand more about how things work, what needs to be decided, and whereto get help’.24 In this way, PLE can also be an important tool in reducing the case-

17Ibid.18H Genn and A Paterson, Paths to Justice Scotland: What People in Scotland Do andThink About Going to Law (Hart Publishing, Oxford – Portland, Oregon 2001) cited in GCrompton, ‘Public Legal Education and Access to Justice’ (2009) 381 Scolag Legal Jour-nal 169.19A Buck, P Pleasance and NJ Balmer, ‘Do Citizens Know How to Deal with LegalIssues? Some Empirical Insights’ (2008) 37(4) Journal of Social Policy 661–81.20K McSweeney, ‘Ignorance is No Excuse: Ontario Legal Aid Plan’s Role in the Deliveryof Public Legal Education and Information through its Clinic Funding System’ (1980) 7Canadian Community Law Journal 115.21Buck, Pleasance and Balmer (n 19).22Gander (n 7) 6.23PLEAS Task Force Report (n 1) 10.24‘Response to Unclaimed Assets Distribution Consultation’, a consultation paper of thePLEAS Task Force <http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/unclaimedassets_pleas.pdf> lastaccessed 14 November 2011.

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load of the courts, since ‘not all situations having legal consequences require useof lawyers or the courts’25 and PLE helps people to identify those situations wherethey need to resort to the formal justice system.

3. PLE and its delivery

Worldwide PLE is delivered through a wide variety of methods and those mayvary according to the need of the people or availability of resources of a particu-lar organisation.

One of the common delivery methods in PLE is leaflets or pamphlets con-taining step-by-step legal information. Although this is commonly used by PLEorganisations, there are some doubts as to its effectiveness in delivering actuallegal knowledge. For leaflets to be effective requires ‘targeted distribution; essen-tially, they have to reach the right person at the right time. They also requireconstant updating to take into account changes in the law’.26

Another important method is street law programmes, where law students orlawyers volunteer to teach some basic aspects of law to schoolchildren or toother community groups. Theatre is also an important way of delivering legalmessages. This is useful particularly when the target audience is not literate orwhere there is a language barrier. To take an example, the Illawarra Legal Centreof Australia organised in 2005 a legal theatre performance addressing the legalissues of credit, debt and tenancy for the newly arrived African communitymembers of the Illawarra.27 There are other instances as well where PLE organi-sations have successfully used theatre as a method of PLE delivery.

Telephone helplines are also used to give legal information to people. TheCanadian Bar Association, BC Branch, has been operating a ‘Dial-A-Law’ ser-vice since 1982, which provides pre-recorded messages on specific legal topicsover the telephone. In 2001–2002, more than 49,000 visitors accessed the scriptsof these messages online.28

The media can also play a significant role in delivering PLE. Television andradio programmes on legal topics are useful for PLE delivery, as they are able toreach large number of audiences. One such example is ‘The Docket’ which is aCanadian TV programme that focuses on specific legal issues.29 Similarly, lawcolumns in national newspapers discussing legal issues can help deliver legalinformation to the public.

One important addition to methods of PLE delivery is use of the internet. Agood example is the Law Central Alberta – a website of the Centre for PublicLegal Education of Alberta, which is dedicated to making law and justiceresources available to all Canadians.30

25Rivard (n 15) 36.26N Ardill, ‘Public Legal Education: Unfinished Business?’ Legal Action Group Policy(2002) 1 <http://www.plenet.org.uk/data/files/public-legal-education-unfinished-business-nony-ardill-41.pdf> last accessed 23 October 2011.27Illawarra Legal Centre of Australia <http://www.illawarralegalcentre.org.au/> lastaccessed 23 October 2011.28Cross Country Snapshot of Public Legal Education (2003) 6 Canadian Civil Justice Forum 1129Ibid. 15.30Law Central Alberta <http://www.acjnet.org/LawCentralAlberta/default.aspx> lastaccessed 12 November 2011.

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In addition to these, various other methods can be used to provide legaleducation and information to people, such as face-to-face training or workshops,providing information packs or producing comic books and cartoons covering areasof law. The method or the combination of methods that is to be used depends onthe goals and audiences of the different PLE programmes. For some the internet isthe most convenient way of accessing legal information, while for others face-to-face training, theatre or workshops may appear to be more effective. Again, therange of legal topics will also differ according to audience differences.

4. International practice – examples of cohesive PLE

PLE has been endorsed to varying degrees in countries like the USA, Australia,South Africa and New Zealand. In the United Kingdom, although legal aware-ness programmes were largely present, a nationwide effort to provide PLE hasrecently emerged with the formation of the ‘Public Legal Education and SupportTask Force’ (PLEAS Task Force).31 That recent development aside, an estab-lished nationwide PLE programme is not very common. One of the few coun-tries that has such a cohesive PLE structure is Canada, where PLE developed asa part of the country’s anti-poverty movement during the 1960s.

This paper thus considers it important to examine the PLE services inCanada. In addition, as examples of other PLE-providing countries, the PLEprovisions of Australia will be examined.

4.1. Canada

Canada has a unique structure for PLE services. There is a national network ofprovincial organisations, which are the core PLE providing bodies in Canada.32

These organisations are operated with the sole agenda of delivering PLE. Eachof these Core PLE providers receives annual funding from the Department ofJustice, Canada. However, major portions of their funding come from sourcesother than the Department of Justice.

All core PLE providers, with the exception of Quebec, rely on various otherintermediary organisations for disseminating information and collecting feedbackon PLE needs.33 These include legal aid clinics, health centres, churches,women’s shelters and groups that target a specific section of public, such assenior citizens, women, aboriginal people and immigrants.34 The advantage ofworking with these intermediaries is that PLE services can be extended to themaximum number of people, as these organisations or individuals are often betterpositioned than the core PLE providers to reach particular groups of people. Thisis an important strategy for PLE services as it lessens the burden of the principalPLE organisations and also reduces costs of services significantly.35

In addition to funding of core PLE providing organisations, a number of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are designated by the Department of Justice

31PLEAS Task Force Report (n 1).32Gander (n 7) 4.331997 PLEI Review (n 6) 11.34Department of Justice, Canada <http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/pi/pb-dgp/prog/plei-pvij.html> last accessed 21 October 2011.35Gander (n 7) 5.

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and provincial governments to receive special project funding for PLE activities.Other than the Department of Justice, law foundations and provincial govern-ments are the key funders of PLE in Canada. Law foundations across Canadafund almost one quarter on average of the core PLE provider programmes. Theintermediary PLE organisations are also funded by law foundations and the pro-vincial government contributions.36

There is also a national association, the Public Legal Education Association ofCanada (PLEAC), for all these organisations and individuals who are involved inthe provision of PLE services. Founded in 1987, it is an umbrella body for PLE-related activities in Canada and acts as a ‘national voice’ for PLE issues.37 ‘PLEACexists in the absence of core government funding. Hence, its role and activities arelimited to the volunteer time spent by its members’.38 It provides the opportunity tocore PLE providers and other organisations involved in PLE services in Canada toshare their experiences and to better communicate with each other.

Thus each of the provinces in Canada has well-structured PLE provisions.Law foundations, as well as federal and provincial governments, contribute sub-stantially to the PLE services. The core PLE providing bodies have been success-fully running PLE programmes with the co-operation of numerous intermediaryorganisations and individuals using a wide variety of methods, to effectively pro-vide legal education to the Canadian people.

4.2. Australia

In Australia, the main providers of ‘community legal education’ (the term usedin Australia for PLE activities) have been Legal Aid Commissions (LACs) andvarious Community Legal Centres (CLC). Similar to Canada, the PLE structurein Australia is also well organised. However, unlike Canada, where there areorganisations solely dedicated to PLE services, community legal education is notthe sole agenda of the LACs and the CLCs. Instead, they provide PLE as anessential component of their entire legal assistance services.

CLCs are independent, non-profit organisations, which provide free low-costlegal services. CLC services include, legal advice and information, support or refer-ral services for individuals, advocacy and community legal education. Dependingon the particular needs of the community, each CLC may offer different types oflegal services. CLC services are mainly focused on the disadvantaged communityor those who are in special need.39

There are more than 200 CLCs across Australia providing legal services formore than 30 years. In 2006–2007, they concluded more than 2000 communitylegal education projects.40 ‘CLCs work collaboratively with their local or specialinterest communities and with all levels of government, with community and

361997 PLEI Review (n 6) 11.37Public Legal Education Association of Canada (PLEAC) <http://www.pleac.ca/> lastaccessed 14 November 2011.381997 PLEI Review (n 6) 13.39Why Community Legal Centres are Good Value? Publication of the National Asso-ciation of Community Legal Centres <http://www.naclc.org.au/multiattachments/2287/DocumentName/NACLC_value_web.pdf> last accessed 27 October 2011.40Ibid.

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private service providers and interested representatives of business'.41 The centresreceive limited funds from a variety of sources including state and federal gov-ernments and philanthropic organisations. Because of the limited funding, theseorganisations rely heavily on voluntary services.

In each state, these 200 CLCs are represented by the state community legalcentre organisations. These state organisations are members of the National Asso-ciation of Community Legal Centres (NACLC), which is the representing organi-sation of all the CLCs across Australia. Its purpose is to provide them with supportand assistance in the discharge of legal services and to create a common forum.42

The other key providers of community legal education in Australia are theAustralian Legal Aid Commissions. There is one independent Legal Aid Com-mission in each of the states and territories. The directors of each of these eightAustralian Legal Aid Commissions are represented in Australia’s National LegalAid. The commissions receive funding from the Commonwealth government andtheir respective state and territory governments.43

Community legal education and information is an essential component ofthe services provided by the Australian Legal Aid Commissions. Publicseminars, law handbooks, telephone helplines and web-based information arecommonly used to provide community legal education. For instance, the LegalAid Commission of Tasmania regularly holds free seminars taken by lawyerson different areas of law including family law and youth law;44 and the LegalAid Commission of Western Australia provides a comprehensive list of topicson its official website containing legal information for the general public.45

Further, in order to build a co-ordinated effort to the legal assistance servicesin Australia, there is the Australian Legal Assistance Forum (ALAF), whichcomprises the major legal aid providers in Australia, including the NationalAssociation of Community Legal Centres and the National Legal Aid.46

Community legal education thus takes a significant place in the entire legalassistance framework in Australia.

3. Public Legal Education in the context of Bangladesh – the currentsituation

In Canada, PLE began as a part of the social reform movement, which emergedduring the American war on poverty in the 1960s. This new model of socialreform was not designed by ‘some high-powered think tank, but emerged fromthe interplay of ideas and experiences of leaders in academic, philanthropic,

41National Association of Community Legal Centres Annual Report 2008 <http://www.naclc.org.au/multiattachments/2338/DocumentName/NACLC0708AnnualReport.pdf> lastaccessed 13 November 2011.42Ibid.43National Legal Aid, Australia <http://www.nla.aust.net.au/category.php?id=1> lastaccessed 01 November 2011.44Legal Aid Commission of Tasmania <http://www.legalaid.tas.gov.au/our%20services/cle.html> last accessed 05 November 2011.45Legal Aid Commission of Western Australia <http://www.legalaid.wa.gov.au/Pages/Default.aspx> last accessed 12 November 2011.46Australian Legal Assistance Forum (ALAF) <http://www.nla.aust.net.au/category.php?id=4> last accessed 25 November 2011.

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professional, labour, and government circles and of activists involved in eradicat-ing poverty’.47 PLE thus developed in Canada, in the face of a need for legalinformation, felt by those ‘activists, drop-outs, and the otherwise disenchantedwho saw that the law was affecting their lives in a direct way’48 and ‘whodemanded the law to be demystified and opened up to the average persons’.49

Today, PLE has become an essential part of the Canadian justice system.The need for a similar PLE service is even greater in Bangladesh. It could

play a vital role by empowering people with knowledge of their rights andresponsibilities to stand against social injustices. The majority of the populationare living below the poverty line, the literacy rate is very low and social injus-tices like child labour and discrimination against women are common phenom-ena. In such a context it is easier to deprive people of their rights, and withoutpublic awareness illegality is often accepted. When people are suffering fromsuch social injustices and inequalities, black letter law on its own cannot ensurejustice for them. A measure like PLE, which can bring knowledge of law tothese underprivileged groups, is what is needed to give people greater access tojustice.

So far there is no initiative by the Bangladesh government to introducePLE. Neither is there any organisation working with its sole agenda beingPLE. However, there are a number of instances where services like PLE havebeen provided by some NGOs, although those services were not branded asPLE. For the purpose of the present paper, a brief overview of these activitiesis considered important in order to examine the existing PLE framework inBangladesh.

BRAC is one of the leading national NGOs in the development sector. BRACworks for the poor and the marginalised communities covering areas of socialand economic development, health, education, environment and agriculture. In1986, BRAC introduced its Human Rights and Legal Services (HRLS) pro-gramme with the aim of ‘protecting and promoting human rights through legalaid, legal representation and empowerment’.50 One component of this HRLS pro-gramme is the Human Rights and Legal Education Program (HRLE), which isaimed at empowering the marginalised communities by educating them abouttheir rights. This is an important example of PLE nature activities in Bangladesh.However, this project is a comparatively small component of BRAC’s largeragenda, and it primarily targets women in the rural areas.51

Another example is the human rights awareness programme of the Ain o Sal-ish Kendra (ASK). ASK is a legal aid and human rights organisation in Bangla-desh, which provides various legal services including legal representation,advice, mediation and public interest litigations. The Human Rights AwarenessUnit of the organisation provides training to school and local theatre groups onhuman rights and gender issues, who in turn organise human rights awareness

47Gander (n 5) 1.48Gander (n 7) 4.49W Cassidy, ‘Law-Related Education – Promoting, Awareness, Participation and Action’,Weaving Connections (2000) 297–98, cited in Pitsula (n 3) 1.50BRAC Annual Report (2010) <http://www.brac.net/useruploads/files/BRAC%20Annual%20Report%20-%202008.pdf> last accessed 2 November 2011.51BRAC <http://www.brac.net/index.php> last accessed 3 November 2011.

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campaigns through performing drama and theatres in their respective schools andcommunities. In addition, ASK provides similar training to other groups of par-ticipants including NGO activists, government representatives and members oflocal elected bodies.52

Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) is another important NGOin the legal aid sector. BLAST is mainly engaged in providing formal legal assis-tance including public interest litigations, representation and legal advice. In2009, BLAST conducted 12 legal awareness sessions for garments workers. Atotal of 333 garments workers participated in these training sessions.53

The Bangladesh National Woman Lawyers’ Association (BNWLA) is aimed atimproving the legal, social and economic rights of marginalised women and chil-dren in Bangladesh. Under its training division, the BNWLA organises legal lit-eracy programmes for disadvantaged women. The organisation also conductscommunity theatre to promote legal awareness on issues like child marriage,polygamy, marriage registration, divorce, the punishment for acid throwing etc.54

These individual activities in some way resemble the international practicesof PLE. However, these are insufficient for a co-ordinated PLE structure. A num-ber of these projects are short term and due to funding constraints they are oftennot continued. A majority of projects, which are ongoing by organisations, donot occupy the central attention of organisations and form only a small part oftheir various other activities. Further, most of the existing programmes are focus-ing on human rights-based education, whereas PLE emphasises the right to basiclegal information (from human rights laws to other laws, e.g. tax law, tenancylaw, company law etc.) that are needed in everyday life. In addition, the targetaudiences of existing legal literacy programmes are mostly marginalised groupsidentified by the concerned organisation itself, whereas the PLE project does nottarget any particular group but targets the generic right of every citizen to knowwhat the law provides.

Most importantly, these activities, which have similar PLE nature objectives,are often isolated projects – they are conducted independently by the organisa-tions without having any co-ordination with other organisations that are conduct-ing similar programmes. Consequently, the overlapping information affects thedesired outcome of the services provided. The same group of people may havebeen targeted by more than one organisation as participants of their legaleducation programmes, or the same issues may have been discussed by severalorganisations to the same community groups.

Another important aspect is the heavy reliance by these organisations onface-to-face training to provide legal education. There are various other methodsby which legal education can be delivered to the public, but there are not manyexamples where such other methods have been explored to provide legal infor-mation and education.

52Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) <http://www.askbd.org/web/index.php> last accessed 3November 2011.53Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) <http://www.blast.org.bd/> lastaccessed 3 November 2011.54The Bangladesh National Woman Lawyers’ Association (BNWLA) <http://www.bnwlabd.org/> last accessed 4 November 2011.

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Additionally, due to the emphasis of the existing programmes on rural andmarginalised communities, web-based legal information services have not yetbeen developed, although the internet is gradually becoming more accessibleeven in rural areas.

Thus the overall picture is that while the term PLE has not been introducedin Bangladesh, there are some piecemeal services that have similar aims to thoseof PLE. However, these services are inadequate in number and not conducted ina cohesive manner. There is also an absence of a single body or organisation thathas the sole purpose of providing PLE-related services to the public or whichdelivers PLE as one of its core areas of service. Further, there is a completeabsence of any government initiative to deliver PLE or to formulate a nationalstrategy for it.

In order that the positive outcomes of PLE can be fully achieved, it is impor-tant to have a coherent and comprehensive structure for PLE in Bangladesh. Animportant initial step in that direction will be to start the process of introducingthe concept of PLE and its international practices among the major stakeholderswho are able to contribute to a future PLE structure in Bangladesh.

4. Introducing cohesive Public Legal Education in Bangladesh

4.1. The stakeholders

In any PLE structure three categories of stakeholders are involved – the audienceto whom the service is delivered, the provider who is delivering the service andthe facilitators who are supporting those services through technical or financialassistance.55 The success of PLE essentially requires the widespread participationof all these different sectors through a ‘multi-disciplinary team approach’.56

Thus to introduce a comprehensive strategy of PLE in Bangladesh, it is neces-sary to create a network of PLE among all the major stakeholders. Such a networkwill be able to promote awareness of the concept of PLE among its different part-ners and can provide them with a common platform to share their experiencesand to discuss the possibility of providing PLE in a co-ordinated way.

To establish such a PLE network it is first important to identify the stakehold-ers and also to examine the rationale for their participation in such a network.For the purpose of the paper the stakeholders are identified as audiences, provid-ers and funding bodies. However, there cannot be any such clear-cut classifica-tion of stakeholders and a service provider can at the same time be an audienceor a funding body for PLE services.

4.1.1. The audience

In an effort to identify the PLE audience to establish the network, focus shouldbe on the intermediaries who are ‘better positioned to serve a particular public’.57

55See example of Canada in Gander (n 7).56PLE Review: Reflections and Recommendations on Public Legal Education Delivery inBC, the Legal Services Society, BC (2007) 3 <http://www.lss.bc.ca/assets/community-Workers/pleReview_en.pdf> last accessed 11 November 2011.57Gander (n 7) 5.

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These intermediaries include, among others, teachers, imams (priests and reli-gious leaders), village leaders and social workers, who have better links withtheir respective communities. For a PLE provider it may not be possible to reachthe entire population of a particular community, in which case providing interme-diaries with PLE tools and also motivating them to disseminate the same to awider class of the society will ensure the provision of PLE services for the maxi-mum number of people. Often these intermediaries exercise a positive influenceover their respective communities and are best suited to provide PLE servicescompared to the traditional service providers such as NGOs and community ser-vice organisations.

4.1.2. The service providers

As for the service providers, the NGOs and other community service organisa-tions can be primarily identified as major stakeholders. This would include theorganisations already providing PLE-related services, as well as those whosemandate matches the objectives of PLE. PLE serves the goals of many of theseorganisations by reassuring their promises as to the empowerment of the peopleand improving the conditions of their lives. ‘It gives the not-for profit sector thepractical routes they need to make user empowerment a reality’.58

Apart from NGOs, law schools and legal professionals including judges canalso be identified as potential PLE providers for the PLE network. In a numberof instances, law schools have been an important provider of PLE services. Onesuch example is the street law programmes conducted by the College of Law ofEngland and Wales in partnership with the Citizenship Foundation and a leadingUK law firm Eversheds.59 Under this programme, law students, lecturers andsolicitors voluntarily conduct workshops with members of communities oneveryday legal issues.60 Additionally, by establishing separate academic centresfor PLE, law schools can contribute to the needs assessment and evaluationprocess of PLE. Legal professionals and law firms in Bangladesh can similarlycontribute by conducting legal information workshops or writing print materialson legal topics. They can also advise PLE organisations on specific legal issuesand procedures.

Providing PLE services to people can also benefit law firms and law schools,as it supports their ‘commitment to the legal needs of groups in many communi-ties’.61 By training non-lawyers on everyday legal issues law students canenhance their advocacy skills. For law professionals and firms, PLE not only ful-fils their commitment to social responsibility, it also helps them ‘demystify acomplex field of knowledge and acquire the skill of presenting legal informationin an accessible manner’.62 The involvement of lawyers and judges in PLE canalso ‘increase understanding of their role by the general public’.63

58PLEAS Task Force Report (n 1) 23.59The College of Law <http://www.college-of-law.co.uk/prospective-students/pro-bono.html> last accessed 28 October 2011.60PLEAS Task Force Report (n 1) 15.61Ibid. 23.62Rivard (n 15) 2.63Ibid.

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The media occupies an important place in delivering PLE; hence it is equallyimportant to have media representation in any initiative to introduce PLE. Animportant example of the role that media can play in creating public awarenessis the animated TV soap in Bangladesh, Mina, which focused on the socialinequalities against a girl child and promoted awareness about such injustice.This internationally acclaimed programme received much appreciation from allsectors of the country and was highly popular nationwide. Similarly, radio andnewspapers can also be important media of PLE delivery. Legal informationbased programmes in electronic and print media would help the public with theanswers to their legal queries; at the same time, they would also attract mediaattention, taking into account the high popular demand for legal information.

Additionally, as the internet can be a useful tool in delivering legal informa-tion to the public, the organisations, which can give IT support for PLE projects,could also be important stakeholders of a PLE network.

4.1.3. The funding bodies

In a majority of the countries that have a PLE structure, government is one ofthe key sources of funding for PLE services. In addition to funding, securinggovernment support is also crucial for a PLE network in order to get the neces-sary acceptance at the national policy level. A nation-wide cohesive PLE frame-work would also enable the government to realise its own commitments to socialempowerment and goals of access to justice.

Besides government, other key funders of a possible PLE structure are foreigndonor agencies and multinational corporate bodies. In Bangladesh a majority ofNGOs are funded by a number of foreign donor agencies including the CanadianInternational Development Agency (CIDA), United States Agency for InternationalDevelopment (USAID) and the UK Department for International Development(DFID). As this is one of the primary sources of funding in the NGO sector, a futurePLE initiative in Bangladesh would certainly require support from these fundingbodies. Therefore, it is essential that any effort to form a network of PLE stakehold-ers includes participation of the major donor agencies. Empowering the masses withlegal knowledge and thus giving them a tool against social injustices is the key ratio-nale for these development agencies to support a PLE initiative in Bangladesh.

There are also a number of multinational corporations in Bangladesh, whichconduct numerous social development projects as part of their corporate socialresponsibility (CSR) programmes. For instance, Unilever Bangladesh has beensuccessfully carrying out a number of programmes to empower women;64 andGrameenphone has established a number of community information centres(CICs) to give access to the internet and other information services to rural peo-ple.65 Thus as a part of their CSR programmes these multinational corporationsshould be encouraged to provide their support to a PLE initiative by assuringtheir partnership to the network of PLE stakeholders. In view of the important

64Unilever Bangladesh <http://www.unilever.com.bd/ourvalues/environmentandsociety/default.asp> last accessed 18 November 2011.65Grameenphone <http://www1.grameenphone.com/index.php?id=86> last accessed 18November 2011.

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role that PLE can play in empowering people and giving access to the justicesystem, PLE certainly serves the CSR goals of these corporate bodies.

4.2. Formulating a national strategy for PLE

If a network can be created among all these major stakeholders, including keygovernment departments, this will act as a pressure group to campaign for acohesive PLE structure in Bangladesh and ultimately may lead to the possibleformation of an independent working group for PLE, assigned with the responsi-bility of bringing out a possible PLE model for Bangladesh. This working groupmay be established by the government upon consultation with partners of thePLE network, and it will aim at formulating a national strategy for introducingPLE in Bangladesh. The UK example is particularly important in this context,where a consultation among a number of key organisations led to the formationof an independent task force, which in 2007 came up with a national strategy forPLE in the UK with a view to consolidate the existing piecemeal PLE projectsinto a coherent structure.

However, the desired goal of establishing a PLE network among major stake-holders to formulate a national strategy will be difficult without carrying out thenecessary groundwork. In view of the present context of Bangladesh and of theinternational practices of PLE, the article thus proposes and examines some keyrecommendations that will facilitate the formation of a PLE network.

5. Recommendations

5.1. Initiating the PLE network of stakeholders

Creating a PLE network would demand constant discussions and exchange ofviews among all major stakeholders. There also has to be a continued effort tointroduce the concept of PLE among them and to reach a consensus about theneed for introducing PLE in Bangladesh. Thus establishing a network of PLEstakeholders gives rise to the question of who is going to initiate such a network.

As for the existing NGOs, it will be difficult to decide which NGO will takethe lead for such a network since none of them has a single mandate for PLE. Inaddition, handing the responsibility of initiating such a network to one of theexisting NGOs may cause non-participation by other organisations that have sim-ilar goals or activities. As for the government, making a case for PLE to gain itssupport itself will be a challenge for a future PLE network, and thus any sugges-tion for a government department or other non-departmental public bodies totake the initial lead in creating a PLE network may not be a practical one.Similarly, any existing academic body or institution, ‘while certainly a good basefor high quality research’,66 would not be suitable for taking the lead, as the taskof establishing a network of PLE among all the major stakeholders is too broadto be fitted into the mandate of those institutions.

Therefore, for a PLE network to come into reality it is important that anew organisation is established with the sole agenda of introducing PLE in

66PLEASE Task Force Report (n 1) 25.

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Bangladesh, which may take the form of an NGO. Having an independent PLEorganisation would be more effective in creating the network than any otherexisting bodies, as PLE will be the exclusive objective of the organisation. Anew body for bringing PLE would also be able to secure the ‘widest possibleparticipation of the stakeholders’,67 which is a major consideration for success ofsuch a network.

Like most other NGOs in Bangladesh, this organisation has to face the chal-lenge of securing a source of funding from the conventional donor agencies.However, the detailed process of establishing this organisation is beyond thescope of the present article, which focuses particularly on the necessity of estab-lishing such an organisation to initiate a PLE network that will lead to the forma-tion of a national strategy for PLE.

Given the goal of initiating a PLE network, the proposed independent organi-sation should emphasise a number of key measures. For the purpose of the paperit is considered necessary to recommend these key measures for a newly estab-lished PLE organisation.

5.1.1. Building the necessary consensus among stakeholders

The most important task for the organisation would be to act as a common linkbetween and among all the major PLE stakeholders. It should provide them withthe forum where they can share their views and opinions on PLE-related issues.Its goal should be to create awareness about the concept of PLE among thestakeholders and to achieve their consensus on the need of it in the context ofBangladesh. In realisation of this goal, the organisation should initiate regularconsultations and discussions between stakeholders. It should work as a knowl-edge bank for the use of stakeholders, for PLE-related information and experi-ences.

5.1.2. Initiating research on PLE

There is complete absence of research or analysis on PLE in Bangladesh. In orderto initiate a PLE network it is important to identify the scope of each stake-holder’s participation in the network and also to assess the need for PLE inBangladesh, which essentially require conducting in-depth research on the subject.The proposed organisation therefore should initiate such research; at the sametime it should also encourage stakeholders such as the large-scale NGOs and aca-demic institutions to conduct independent study on the impact and need for PLE.

5.1.3. Encouraging the expansion of existing PLE projects

Another important task of the proposed PLE organisation would be to encouragethe existing organisations that provide small-scale PLE-related services to expandthose projects in light of international examples of PLE. It should also facilitategreater communication between different PLE-related projects conducted by

67Ibid.

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different organisations so that they are conducted and developed in a consistentfashion.

5.1.4. Creating general public awareness about PLE

On a more general note, the organisation should concentrate on creating an over-all public awareness about the practice of PLE and the role it can play in givinggreater access to legal knowledge to the people. In so doing, it can advertisePLE-related information in national media or organise public seminars andspeeches on the necessity of PLE. Without public support in favour of PLE, anyeffort to introduce it will not be effective since people are the ultimate beneficia-ries of all PLE services.

Nevertheless, it should be recognised that an initiative like this cannot be thesole task of a single organisation and it essentially requires a joint effort of allthe stakeholders, particularly government. The success of the effort of introduc-ing PLE in Bangladesh thus depends on the realisation of its necessity by all sec-tors and communities, including the public at large.

Concluding remarks

To the many problems that developing countries like Bangladesh face, PLE alonecannot be the single answer. Nevertheless, while ensuring legal literacy to thepublic alone cannot eliminate the causes of all injustices and disadvantages,together with other agencies ‘it can play a vital role in achieving moments ofjustice’68 and can effect a change in the conditions of people’s lives. PLE canthus become a powerful tool in the hands of the masses, empowered with theknowledge of their rights and responsibilities to act against social injustices andinequalities. Above all, PLE can help to create a legally aware citizenry, ‘able tointeract with the justice system in a manner which best protects their rights’.69

Notes on contributorTaslima Yasmin is a former Chevening Scholar. She has completed her LLB and LLMfrom the University of Dhaka and her second LLM from the University College London.She is a partner in a leading law chamber in Bangladesh and is involved with pro bonolitigation and legal advice. She is also engaged with a number of organisations workingin the area of human rights and access to justice in Bangladesh.

68Gander (n 5) 243.69Pitsula (n 3) 3.

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