Access to Legal Aid - D.R. Congo

Access to legal aid services in the DRC

Several structures and non-governmental organizations offer legal support to women confronted with legal problems.

These structures and NGOs are among others:

The Legal Department of the Gender, Family and Children Secretariat

The Legal Department of the Family and Children's Gender Secretariat provides legal services to vulnerable women in need of legal assistance.

The most treated cases are: Rape of minors and sexual violence, harassment in the workplace, rejection of women in marriage and abandonment of wives and children by husbands to embark on new marriages, Inheritances, abuse in the event of widowhood, blows and wounds, marriages not registered in the civil status etc.…

1. What is the procedure ?

The procedure is based on the nature of the trial:

• If it's criminal in case of rape it's the prosecution
• If it is civil, it is the tribunal de paix or the tribunal des grands instances close to the general prosecutor's office.

In case of Domestic Violence there is:

• The constitution of the file by the lawyers,
• Referral to the Public Prosecutor's Office, either by complaint or by denunciation,
• The investigation of the file at the level of the Public Prosecutor's Office and,
• If necessary, the fixing of the file at the Court

At the reception of the victim, a reception is organized by listening to him on the basis of a report in order to detect the truth and the circumstances of the violation of the rights suffered, or a classification for follow-up of the file which requires a certain confidentiality, ie confrontation with the author of the violation;

- After hearing and determining the facts, the Legal Department of the Secretariat of Gender, Family and Children resorts to organizations for the protection and promotion of women's rights to which the files are transferred for regular monitoring and the signature of the hierarchy of the Ministry of Gender either the secretary general or the minister, as the case may be;

These organizations for the protection and promotion of women's rights include:

nbsp

• The Ministry's partner civil society organizations that have legal clinics, the Association of Women Lawyers, the Association of Women Judges

• But also the various bar associations for permanent assistance, which provide victims with pro deo lawyers (lawyer appointed by the bar association to provide services free of charge, at no cost)

• The local police in collaboration with the courts and public prosecutor's office to whom the file is transferred to seize it

1. 
   How can a woman benefit from these services?

• Women victims who denounce and present themselves for legal assistance are followed by lawyers supported by technical development partners, legal clinics by paying court fees for opening files and obtaining either a judgment with the arrest of the perpetrators. either compensation for damages as the case may be,
• For cases of domestic or marital violence, the Legal Department of the Gender, Family and Children Secretariat helps to remedy or obtain a divorce by respecting matrimonial regimes, equitable division of property, according to the civil law that governs the DRC
• In case of widowhood equitable sharing of inheritance and without forgetting the orphans
• In the event that the minors are under 18 and both parents are deceased, the law provides for the organization of two administrators who represent both parents to manage the property of the orphans until they reach majority.

The most treated cases are often but not exclusively:

• Marital and domestic violence,
• rapes,
• Succession,
• Abandonment of families, etc...

Victims who are in the provinces can turn to the provincial ministry or the gender division for denunciation and claim legal support.

Contact of the Legal Department of the Secretariat of the Ministry of Gender

Mrs. Anna Kenda

Director Head of Legal Department

+243819612627

annitakenda@hotmail.com

Legal aid services offered to women and children survivors of violence by Lizadeel legal clinics

nbsp

1. Introduction

The approach developed by LIZADEEL in terms of prevention and response to sexual and gender-based violence against women and children is a holistic response that integrates awareness campaigns, mobilization of community leaders, the popularization of legal instruments and the advocacy (for the prevention component); and documentation of cases, psychological follow-up, referral and medical care, legal assistance and socio-economic reintegration (for the response or care component). This approach consists of offering survivors a package of services from their entry into the care circuit until their empowerment.

1. What about the legal clinic/listening area?

Legal clinics are community structures of reference and counter-reference, and alert, where social workers, psychologists and jurists (Lawyers) work to provide a holistic response to victims of violence. They are generally installed in the enclosures of communal houses alongside communal gender and social affairs services, provincial gender divisions, or in places easily accessible by vulnerable people, in this case women and children who are victims of violence.

For the city-province of Kinshasa alone, the Lizadeel has 16 legal clinics in 16 municipalities and which covers 14 health zones, namely: N'Sele, Maluku, Masina, Ndjili, Kimbaseke, Kisenso, Makala, Bumbu, Selembao, Kalamu, Bandalungwa , Mount Gafula, Linwala and Gombe. The Lizadeel also has legal clinic services in almost all provinces of the DRC.

The experience of legal clinics at Lizadeel started since 2001, with the opening of the first legal clinic in Kalamu. This legal clinic only dealt with legal assistance for girls and mothers who were victims of violence. The experience has grown over the years increasing the number of clinics and expanding the package of services offered.

1. Legal assistance

LIZADEEL provides legal assistance according to the following process:

• Reception and consultation of survivors of Sexual Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) referred by focal points (FP) or by a paralegal in an atmosphere of trust and confidentiality;
• Information necessary for each survivor referred on his right to initiate legal action or not, his rights, possible legal proceedings, in order to obtain informed consent;
• Signature of the consent form and filing in the survivor's file;
• Investigation and documentation of cases;
• Drafting of procedural documents to be filed with the judicial and administrative authorities;
• Support for transport, accommodation and catering costs for survivors of SGBV and possibly their companions (during their stay for court appearances far from the survivors' places of residence;
• Representation and/or assistance to survivors of SGBV during appearances before the various authorities;
• Follow-up of cases before the competent courts;
• Payment of the various necessary legal costs, including the costs of executing cases having obtained a court decision;
• If necessary, support the planning and organization of mobile hearings in the areas furthest from the courts with jurisdiction over cases of sexual violence, with the technical support of NGO frameworks;
• Support for the enforcement of judgments;
• Plea for the payment of damages in favor of the victim;
• Establishment of an early warning system;
• Monitoring and evaluation.

1. Conditions for benefiting from legal aid services

The services of the Lizadeel legal clinics are open to all vulnerable people, mainly women and children who are victims of all forms of violence and in particular sexual and gender-based violence. Victims or their families can directly contact the services of legal clinics, but they can also be referred by the police, state services, community leaders, local protection actors, Lizadeel focal points, community relays.

contacts:

Email: lizadeel2@hotmail.com

Innocent Prosper Mbumba, Executive Director

Phone. +243 815 209 250; +243 994 637 722

Julienne Tshibuabua, Cajem Coordinator

Phone. +243 859 212 841

nbsp

nbsp

South and North Kivu: Panzi Foundation

The Panzi Foundation was created in 2008 by Nobel Prize-winning Dr. Denis Mukwege to facilitate access to justice for victims of sexual and gender-based violence. Its mission is to contribute to the fight against impunity.

The front door of the victims:

Victims access legal clinic assistance, either through Panzi Hospital or through local legal clinics.

Area of intervention

1. Legal assistance

• The free consultation:

These legal services are only available in North and South Kivu and are carried out by lawyers and paralegals. The consultation covers three main activities: listening to beneficiaries, legal advice and guidance for victims.

Contact and address

Foundation Panzi Muchununu/ panzi Bukavu, DRC 2019

+243 81 9593254

info@fondationpanzirdc.org

https://fondationpanzirdc.org/

nbsp

North Kivu, Tshopo, Ituri, Kasai and Lomami

The Dynamics of Women Lawyers - DFJ Asbl

La Dynamique des Femmes Juristes, DFJ Asbl in acronym operates in accordance with the laws of the Democratic Republic of Congo, under the legal personality granted by Ministerial Decree No. 088/CAB/M. E/MIN/J&GS/2018 of May 25, 2018 from the Ministry of Justice and Keeper of the Seals of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Under the tax number A1102692P and other certificates.

The objective of the Dynamique des Femmes Juristes (DFJ) is to contribute to the advent of the rule of law in the DRC, thanks to the synergies of actions making it possible to (i) strengthen the skills of women so that they assume a responsible [political] participation in decision-making bodies in both the public and private sectors; (ii) restore women's potential for action so that they engage in the promotion, protection and defense of their rights; and (iii) facilitate women's access to justice and fight against impunity.

Field of intervention of the DFJ

• Human rights, particularly the rights of women and children
• Access to justice and basic social services
• Promotion of gender and women's empowerment
• Land access and security
• Education and information on rights
• Strategic, operational legal leadership

RANGE OF ACTION

Provinces of North Kivu, Tshopo, the province of Ituri, Kasai and Lomami.

Contact and Address:

20 Port Avenue,

The Volcanoes District, Goma,

Democratic Republic of Congo

Diagonally from the Tribunal de Grande Instance

Email: dfjasbl@yahoo.fr

Website: https://www.dfj-rdc.org/

Contact person :

Master Claudine TSONGO MBALAMYA

Coordinator (Founding member)

Phone. : 0998091890 /0853732864

Email: claudiakasongo@yahoo.fr

Upper Katanga, Lualaba, Tanganyika

Large Action of Women Lawyers (ALFA)

ALFA is an association for the promotion and defense of human rights operating in the former province of Katanga, its head office is in Lubumbashi.

ALFA offers a range of free services to women, including:

• Legal assistance on all matters related to Civil Status
• Legal assistance in cases of sexual violence.
• Monitoring cases of irregular pretrial detention or illegal arrest of women
• Raising awareness in schools on basic legal issues

Coverage area

nbsp

• Upper Katanga
• Lualaba
• Tanganyika

Address and contact:

nbsp

17 Tenke Avenue

Kabulameshi district

Municipality of Lubumbashi

Lubumbashi

alfavocates@gmail.com