Support for Legal Aid in the Caribbean

The Support for Legal Aid in the Caribbean was a project funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB). The purpose of the project was to undertake a comprehensive assessment of current legal aid provision in the Bahamas, Belize, Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago and to identify and make recommendations with respect to issues relating to access to justice and the provision of legal aid services in each of the participating countries. In particular, the project was to determine ways in which legal aid could be supported and expanded using information technology.

The project was linked to an initiative of the Organization of Commonwealth Caribbean Bar Associations (OCCBA) that is seeking to establish an internet based support system for legal aid providers and pro bono services in the participating countries. As part of the scope of the project, the recommendations of the assessments were introduced and considered at a two-day workshop on legal aid in the Caribbean organized by the OCCBA in conjunction with its annual meeting in Jamaica.

Results:

A comprehensive assessment report was generated for each of the participating countries. The assessments identified a number of challenges to access to justice in each of the countries and made detailed recommendations to expand and enhance legal aid services, including recommendations on the effective utilization of information technology. The country reports provided a framework and benchmark for legal aid development in the Bahamas, Belize, Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago.