Prashant Kumar, Bar Association of India’s President Elected to International Legal Assistance Consortium’s (ILAC) Board of Directors

The Bar Association of India is happy to inform that its president Mr. Prashant Kumar, Past President, LAWASIA has been elected unanimously to the Board of Directors of International Legal Assistance Consortium (ILAC) on 02.09.2021. He is the second Asian to serve on the Board of ILAC. ILAC is a Sweden-based international non-governmental organization that works to strengthen rule of law, empower legal professionals, and ensure equal access to justice for all where people’s justice needs are the greatest – in conflict, crisis, or transitions to democracy.

The mission of ILAC is to rapidly respond and assess the needs of the justice sector in conflict-affected and fragile countries, and help strengthen the independence and resilience of justice sector institutions and the legal profession. ILAC came about from a recognition that the re-establishment of the rule of law in war-torn countries by legal assistance organizations needed to be more effectively managed and coordinated.

It was established during a conference in December 2000 in Saltsjöbaden, Sweden, supported by the Swedish Govt. and attended by 40 organizations from around the world. ILAC now has more than 80 member organizations and individual experts representing more than 3 million lawyers worldwide.

ILAC has played a crucial role to help establish and sustain the Rule of Law in fragile countries, by supporting the development of independent judiciaries and legal profession and bar associations, with key ongoing initiatives in Syria, Tunisia, the MENA region, Haiti, Cuba. In the past, it had worked in countries like Libya, Guatemala and had helped establish an independent Bar in Afghanistan, which still survives and will be crucial to provide hope for the people there.