Volunteer Lawyers’ Network is made up of practising lawyers and student lawyers drawn from tertiary institutions and law schools across the country.
By Onyewuchi Ojinnaka
A Lagos based human rights and advocacy organisation, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) on Tuesday, March 22 inaugurated its Volunteer Lawyers’ Network in Lagos.
The inauguration was performed by Opeyemi Owolabi, a Legal Officer with SERAP on behalf of the Executive director.
The Volunteer Lawyers’ Network is made up of practising lawyers and student lawyers drawn from tertiary institutions and law schools across the country.
The Volunteer Lawyers’ Network is an initiative of SERAP to bring together lawyers from across the country with commitment and passion for protection and promotion of human rights, transparency and accountability, rule of law and for using public interest litigation to achieve justice and effective remedies for victims of human rights violation and corruption.
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Members of the Network are expected to use public interest litigation and other legal advocacy initiatives to challenge violations of human rights including restrictions to civic space, media freedom, freedom of expression, socio-economic rights as well as promote transparency and accountability in government and the private sectors.
While inaugurating the Volunteer Lawyers’ Network, Mr Owolabi expressed that SERAP believed that their legal experience and expertise would be invaluable to the success of the Network.
He urged the members to look out for victims of human rights violations and initiate a legal process to ensure that the victims get justice.
In an interactive session, members of the Network asked if there are other ways SERAP can adopt to ensure good governance without necessarily going to court.
Some participants indicted the judiciary for not doing enough in the fight against corruption.
They suggested that SERAP should organise town hall meetings for those in rural areas that are not well educated and enlighten them on their rights.
Responding to some of the questions, SERAP’s deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare explained the need to engage with lawyers in the fight against corruption, human rights abuses and violations as well as promotion of transparency and accountability in government and private sectors.
On public enlightenment, “SERAP do a lot in this area by inviting community and religious leaders, youth leaders, market men and women, artisans and other segments of the society and educate them on their rights. SERAP provide advocacy and fo a lot of media advocacy, interpretation and activities in different Nigerian languages”.