BABSEACLE hosted its 3rd Annual “Trio for Justice” on November 13 with its first-ever Access to Justice Public Interest Fair in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on November 12. The “Trio for Justice” was supported by sponsors like Energizer, Buzzwoo!Asia, the HRBA A2J Asian Consortium, the Global Alliance for Justice Education (GAJE), and so many more.

BABSEACLE’s Trio for Justice is a half-marathon race, 10K run, 5K fun walk, and duathlon (a new event) held for the third year this year to raise funds for BABSEACLE and to raise awareness for access to justice issues in the region. This year, the event was “bookended” by a CLE skills workshop for participating law students and law lecturers from northern Thailand. The skills sessions focussed on interviewing clients and clinic supervision procedures, and the Thai participants were joined by BABSEACLE’s team from Laos.

The Trio event itself was a huge success. More than 160 people ran, biked, or walked for justice under beautiful blue skies in Sankampaeng, Thailand, north of Chiang Mai. After the race, they listened to a presentation by CLE Fellow Souliya Svithongthai, who described the start-up of the CLE clinic at the National University of Laos. Svithongthai’s fellowship at the University’s Faculty of Law and Political Science CLE program is supported by BABSEACLE and the Australian law firm, Freehills. Bruce Lasky, Co-Director of BABSEACLE, described the organization’s many projects throughout the region before announcing that the first $5,000 raised by this year’s Trio for Justice would go to support the opening of the CLE clinic in Vientiane. We are proud to say that we raised enough money, with the support of Freehills Law Firm Singapore Branch, who generously donated the remaining amount needed for the construction of the legal consultation clinic.

All in all, with educational workshops, the first Access to Justice fair in Chiang Mai and an very enjoyable race day, BABSEACLE’s Third Annual Trio for Justice weekend was a highly successful awareness-raising and fundraising event.

Thank you to all who supported our 3rd annual Trio for Justice and we are pumped for the 2012 Trio for Justice weekend!

The BABSEACLE Team