The Law Society of Ireland and the Bar of Ireland have recently announced their joint support for a free legal aid initiative based on the island of Lesvos, Greece, to support refugees in the growing migrant crisis. The initiative, ‘European Lawyers in Lesvos’, is a joint project of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE), and has been established to provide legal support to the asylum process and those in need of international protection.
Given the complexity of the current situation, it is imperative that the entitlement of those within the asylum process to understand their legal options is met. This programme aims to uphold the rule of law and ensure due process by ensuring that every asylum seeker has the opportunity to consult with a lawyer regarding the options available in each individual situation.
Volunteer lawyers in the project primarily give preliminary advice. Where litigation is required, contact is made with a member of the Greek bar, and representation may be provided in administrative or court proceedings. A second aim of the initiative is to produce and distribute relevant legal information for migrants requiring international protection. Lawyers in the scheme are co-operating with local actors and organisations in Greece as a mechanism of ensuring access to justice.
In endorsing the project, Chairman of the CCBE’s Migration Law Working Group and member of The Bar of Ireland, David Conlan Smyth SC, described upholding the rule of law and realising access to justice as “central tenets of the legal profession”. He regarded that, in this context, the protection of these core principles necessitates access to a lawyer for all asylum seekers, to receive impartial advice concerning their legal options.
Director General of the Law Society, Ken Murphy, noted the particular vulnerability of those arriving at Europe’s borders, reiterating the crucial need for access to legal advice and adequate human rights protection.
To date the project has consisted of a collaboration of the legal professions working together on a pro bono basis, however Mr Murphy has held that the acute need for legal aid on the EU’s borders cannot be met through funding from the legal profession alone. He has called upon the EU to support the initiative, affirming that the need “must be funded by the EU itself in the interest of justice and the rule of law.”
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