The Public Interest Law Program (PILP) was established in March 2001 in the Buchmann Law Faculty with the generous support of the Ford Foundation. PILP's mission is to advance and facilitate the use of law, and the activity of lawyers, in the fields of social justice and human rights in Israel.
PILP aims to study methodically the trends and developments in arena of public interest and cause lawyering in Israel. PILP is not meant to be an 'additional player' in the field of human rights organizations, that provides direct services. Rather, it studies the field, analyzes it and provides professional support to lawyers and to NGOs. PILP tries to identify new trends and problems in the field, and provide innovative solutions.
PILP develops new fields of law (such as refugee law), promotes the use of legal strategies (such as the amicus curia), and advances a better understanding of the role of public interest lawyers (as in the series of work-shops on representing children in the criminal procedure). As part of its mission to strengthen the legal community involved in public interest, PILP conducts and operates lawyers' forums, workshops and conferences.
The current projects are:Law & Economics for the Benefit of the Community; Lawyers Forums; Workshops; Access to Justice project; Development of an ethical code for lawyers representing children in the criminal procedure; Implementation of the UN Convention regarding the Status of Refugee; Strengthening the Israeli civil society; Conferences and Workshops.
"Law & Economics for the Benefit of the Community" Project
PILP's "Law and Economics for the benefit of the community" project, initiated at the end of 2003, offers corporate lawyers the unique opportunity to provide pro-bono legal services for marginalized groups and individuals.
This project, which is run in conjunction with three other organizations ("Ashalim", "Economic Empowerment for Women" and "The Center for Jewish-Arab Economic Development" (CJAED), aims to provide on going legal support to small businesses established by youth at risk, and by Arab and Jewish women living in poverty.
PILP recruits lawyers for the various projects and provides the volunteers with information and professional support. PILP plans to study the legal and practical obstacles on the formation on micro-businesses and advocate their removal. By researching the legal aspects of micro-businesses in Israel we hope we can nurture a policy conducive to the establishment and operation of such projects.
PILP organized three lawyers forums that give lawyers the opportunity to meet, study, exchange views and discuss professional problems.
Currently PILP handles three lawyers' forums:
(a) Lawyers representing people with mental disabilities - this forum comprised of 30 lawyers, the majority of whom are private lawyers, others work in NGOs or in legal clinics and some in the Government legal aid bureaus;
(b) Clinicians Forum - This forum, supported by the Blaustien Foundation, was formed following a lawyers study tour to the U.S. conducted by PILP. Currently it has 30 members, most of them are lawyers working in Universities and Law Collages all over Israel.
(c) Lawyers representing youth in criminal procedures - this forum is at it's initial organization stage and will be comprised of about 40 lawyers who attended the lecture series organized by PILP about representing youth in the criminal justice system.
During 2002 PILP held a series of five workshops and a conference - "To Be a Children's Lawyer", in which 80 lawyers took part. The workshops promoted the understanding of youth representation as a unique field of law with demanding ethical standards.
PILP works on writing a series of short position papers regarding barriers and inequality in access to justice. These position papers will become a vehicle for a new conceptualization of these problems and will, hopefully, trigger legal action to overcome them. Likewise, PILP aims to broaden the availability of legal services to indigent populations by developing new models for low-fee representation.
Development of an ethical code for lawyers representing children in the criminal procedure:
Following the workshop on youth representation PILP plans to develop, together with lawyers who participated in the workshops, a model for "standard ethical rules" in youth representation.
Implementation of the UN Convention regarding the Status of Refugee - Developing a new legal field in Israel:
Although Israel is signatory to the 1951 Convention Regarding the Status of Refugees, it has done very little throughout the years to fulfill it’s obligation according to the Convention. PILP wrote a position paper on Israel's treatment of refugees and asylum seekers. PILP follows closely the development of new Government issued Regulations in the field, and advocates on behalf of asylum seekers and refugees.
Strengthening the Israeli civil society:
As the Israeli welfare state is gradually eroding, services of civil society organizations replace Government functions. Most organizations are non-profit organizations registered as 'Amutot', by a registrar appointed by the Minister of Interior. PILP conducts a research that will examine the influence of the Amutot Registrar on the organizations activity.
Conferences and workshops serve as a tool for learning, supporting law reforms, presenting problems and giving a voice to various communities. PILP organizes two events every year: the International Human Rights day in December, and the "Law in the Service of the Community" in April. In addition, PILP works in collaboration with other human rights organizations and reacts to various issues on the public agenda.
The program is being taught by attorney Tal Korman, attorney Ela Alon, Yael Kafri,and attorney Ofer Sitbon .