BRIDGING BORDERS
April-June 2015
“Please explore BABSEA CLE in your unique way”
Dear Friends and Supporters of Bridges Across Borders South East Asia Community Legal Education Initiative (BABSEA CLE):
Following up on our previous January-March 2015 BABSEA CLE Quarterly Newsletter articles we are confident that you enjoyed reading it and learning about the “Fast and Furious” programs and projects we are involved in. We are also confident that you now understand more about what we have been working very hard to accomplish, through our events, workshops and other activities.
As we now have completed the 2nd Quarter of 2015 we have even much more to let you know about and are excited to do so. We also want to let you know that if you are eager to read or re-read the many of our past achievements and explore more about us, then click on our website, to access past issues of our Newsletters.
For this current BABSEA CLE 2015 April-June Quarterly Newsletter there are so many things to read you may not know where to start your exploring. We have features such as, “CLE Takes Another Big Step Forward in Myanmar” regarding the 2nd Myanmar National Clinical Legal Education (CLE) Summer School, which was attended by participants from all 18 Myanmar university law faculties. Other interesting articles include: “Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Legal and Cross-Cultural Student Cooperative Education Placements”; “Clinical Legal Education in Mongolia-A Fifteen Year Celebration and Reunion”; “Pro Bono Indonesia Style-Expanding the Foundation of Access to Justice”; “Law Schools, NGO’s and Practitioners Creating Access to Justice for Migrant Workers”; “Reflecting on Practices and Techniques with Vietnamese Clinical Legal Education (CLE) Programme Participants”; “Community Outreach In The South of Laos”; “Building Partnerships, Skills and Capacity, at the Inaugural Asia Clinical Legal Education (CLE) Summer School”; “Setting the Scene: Mini-Lessons on Shooting an Interview at the Inaugural Asia CLE Summer School”, “Showing the Collaborative Work of Many: The Final Knowledge Product for the Myanmar CLE Programme” and the “2015 BABSEA CLE Human Rights Award Given at Central European University”.
We also have included a special remembrance article to our great friend and true mentor, Ed O’Brien, the founder of Street Law Inc., who sadly passed away this month. Ed, who was known to us in our organization as “Eddie” was such an inspiration to all in our organization, and our partners, and he will be so deeply missed.
These articles, and many more, eagerly await your exploration, enjoyment as well our a tribute to Eddie O’Brien. Don’t hesitate and please explore them right now, by clicking on the links below!
Sincere thanks go to all our supporters, volunteers, interns, staffs and friends, for everything because we can’t do it without your help, commitment and belief in us.
Lan Anh Nguyen, BABSEA CLE Newsletter Coordinator, on behalf of the BABSEA CLE Team
Excitement in Myanmar The 4th Asia Pro Bono Conference & Legal Ethics Forum: (3rd to 6th September Mandalay, Myanmar)
With less than two months to go until the 4th Asia Pro Bono Conference and Legal Ethics Forum things are getting very exciting. The programme is filling up fast with speakers from all over Myanmar, the region and the world. Participants are registering from all corners of the globe and the Conference Consortium is working around the clock to ensure that this year’s event is as successful as those in previous years. Here in Myanmar the local organizing committee, the university law departments, local and international law firms and others within the legal profession are thrilled to have this opportunity to host such an important international event and have the opportunity to share and learn about pro bono practices, and means to increase access to justice, from all over the world. This year we are expecting more than 500 participants, from Myanmar and around the globe, to attend the conference, making it the largest conference to date. Read more!
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Remembering Eddie (Ed) O’Brien: An Inspiration, Mentor and Justice Education Hero to Us All (1945-2015) Where to start when describing Ed O’Brien, the founder of Street Law Inc., and the way he touched so many people and made such a difference in the world? I will start probably in a way that many will find unexpected. I will start by thinking about Eddie (which was the name we called him and he called me Brucie) with a bowling ball in his hand at a bowling alley in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
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Building Partnerships, Skills and Capacity at the Inaugural Asia Clinical Legal Education Summer School As a rising second year law student, at University of Indiana Robert H. McKinney School of Law, and coming to intern at BABSEA CLE, I was very excited about the chance to meet international law teachers, students and lawyers. Given my background and interests in the law, I felt that I would have much to learn, from legal professionals who work in other jurisdictions. The Inaugural Asia CLE Summer School provided a perfect opportunity to meet such individuals. |
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| CLE Takes Another Big Step Forward in Myanmar
Building on the overwhelming success of last year’s inaugural Summer School event, participants from all 18 university law faculties in Myanmar came together for the 2nd Myanmar National Clinical Legal Education (CLE) Summer School, May 11-15, 2015 at Taungoo University. While the first Summer School introduced the concept of CLE and the various types of CLE program models that universities can develop (mock trial, community teaching, externships, and in-house consultation clinics), this year’s event went further and focused on the structures, skills, and values that a CLE program needs for sustainable success. More than 70 participants attended the 5 day workshop including 6 international trainers. |
Showing the Collaborative Work of Many: The Final Knowledge Product for the Myanmar CLE Programme
For over a year now, the Consortium of Bridges Across Borders South East Asia Community Legal Education Initiative (BABSEA CLE), Herbert Smith Freehills and DLA Piper/New Perimeter, have been working to support the efforts of universities in Myanmar in establishing clinical legal education (CLE) programmes. In order to record this groundbreaking journey, the Consortium is producing a documentary film. This “Final Knowledge Product” will feature the innovative ways the programme has worked with 18 Myanmar universities in founding CLE programmes. |
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| Setting the Scene: Mini-Lessons on Shooting an Interview at the Inaugural Asia CLE Summer School
As the music muted and the last images of an animated short film faded from the screen, the audience directed their gaze to the opposite side of the room. The sight that filled their eyes was that of a movie studio complete with cameras mounted on tripods, lighting equipment, microphones and makeup artists. The audience consisted of the participants of the inaugural Asia Clinical Legal Education (CLE) Summer School held in Chiang Mai, Thailand from 5-12 June, 2015. Those setting up the lights and angling the cameras were BABSEA CLE staff. They were preparing to teach mini-lessons to the participants about creative documenting and interview techniques needed to produce a high quality film or knowledge product. |
2015 BABSEA CLE Human Rights Award Given at Central European University
In 2011, I was presented with the honor of receiving the Central European University’s (CEU) 20th Anniversary Alumni Hero Award. At that time, our organization, BABSEA CLE, established a new award program at CEU for Legal Masters Human Rights Program graduates, to be given in BABSEA CLE’s name. This year, for the fifth time, the BABSEA CLE Award was once again presented to a Legal Studies student who both excelled academically and demonstrated a past and future devotion to upholding access to justice and human rights principles. This year the award was given to Shorena Latatia, from Tbilisi, Georgia who graduated with an LL.M. in Human Rights from CEU. |
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| Clinical Legal Education in Mongolia-A Fifteen Year Celebration and Reunion
Having first visited Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, in July 2005, where I explored a strong but nascent clinical legal education (CLE) movement, it was a real pleasure and honor to have been invited back, ten years later, to see such growth and maturity. It was even a greater honor to have been able to do this, with Wendy Morrish one of my BABSEA CLE Co-Directors. |
Pro Bono Indonesia Style-Expanding the Foundation of Access to Justice
With the ever expanding pro bono movement in Asia gaining amazing traction, it was only a matter of time before Indonesia began to convene formal pro bono awareness raising/training events. The 27-28th of April, 2015, marked the first official national pro bono workshop, which was organized, in Jakarta, by a consortium of organizations, and was supported by the Australia Indonesia Partnership for Justice Project (AIPJ). BABSEA CLE Co-Directors, Bruce A. Lasky and Wendy Morrish, were there, to assist, learn and share. |
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| Law Schools, NGO’s and Practitioners Creating Access to Justice for Migrant Workers
At the beginning of May in 2015,Bridges Across Borders South East Asia Community Legal Education Initiative (BABSEA CLE)and Justice Without Borders (JWB) convened a workshop on addressing cross-border migrant workers’ legal issues. Funded by the Open Society Foundation’s Justice Initiative (OSJI) and TIFA, the event brought together experts and practitioners from Hong Kong, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Singapore in addition to the local and international BABSEA CLE and JWB team members. |
Reflecting on Practices and Techniques with Vietnamese Clinical Legal Education (CLE) Programme Participants
I travelled to Vietnam, in May 2015, having just spent the past several months teaching two law classes, and completing one semester, at the American University of Phnom Penh (AUPP), a start-up university. I also engaged in dialogue with clinical legal education (CLE) students and staff, and advised AUPP, on its legal curriculum. Before leaving the region, to return to the United States, I wanted to see how CLE was being implemented, “on the ground” in Vietnam. During my visit to Hanoi, BABSEA CLE’s Lan Anh Nguyen and Hien Bui Thu facilitated roundtable discussions at four law faculties. Although these discussions were toward the end of the 2015-16 school year, students and faculty participated enthusiastically. |
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| Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Legal and Cross-Cultural Student Cooperative Education Placements
In 2015, Khon Kaen University will place a number of students, in externship positions, throughout most of the ASEAN countries “plus” which also included China, Korea, Japan and Taiwan. For that reason, on May 23, 2015, the Khon Kaen University ASEAN Studies Center organized a 1-day workshop entitled, “ASEAN Legal and Cross-Cultural Student Cooperative Education Placements”. In order to help ensure a successful workshop, the ASEAN Studies Center and Khon Kaen University approached BABSEA CLE, to collaborate and organize this workshop, with the hope that it would help to prepare students for overseas externships. The workshop focused on a number of issues that are related to living and working in another country, including, work habits, language, culture, religion and law. |
Community Outreach In The South of Laos
Legal awareness is incredibly important, in Laos. One of the best ways to raise awareness is through the model known as CLE Community Teaching. This model can raise legal awareness, on a large range of topics, for all ages, genders and social groups.
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Upcoming Events
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4th Asia Pro Bono Conference & Legal Ethics Forum theme is
“Pro Bono and Ethics Build a Noble Legal Profession” Conference Registration Costs 1) Late-USD $500 (1 Jun 2015 – 31 Aug 2015) Join Us September 3-6, 2015 Bridges Across Borders Southeast Asia Community Legal Education Initiative (BABSEA CLE), Mandalay University, Mandalay University of Distance Education and Yadanabon University, in collaboration with an international consortium comprised of law firms, law societies, legal education institutions, access to justice related organizations and others, will co-organize the 4th Asia Pro Bono Conference & Legal Ethics Forum in Mandalay, Myanmar from 3rd to 6th September 2015. |
7th Trio For Justice Early Bird Registration now opens until 31 Aug 2015
Raising awareness for access to justice becomes a walk in the park at BABSEA CLE andBABSEA CLE Foundation’s 7th Trio For Justice on Saturday, 23 January, 2016
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Latest news!
New members at the BABSEA CLE team
BABSEA CLE is pleased to introduce its newest member at the BABSEA CLE team.
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Make a Donation to BABSEA CLE and Give the Gift of Social Justice more information is available at our website |
