Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) is fast approaching the one-year anniversary of its groundbreaking Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre (ALAC) program.
ALACS provide the public with the opportunity to seek legal advice free of charge when they have experienced corruption while obtaining a service from a State institution. These centers provide information on available mechanisms to pursue complaints, and can also mediate between State institutions and complainants in order to find lasting solutions to grievances.
The first ALAC, the Shelter for Integrity, was launched in Colombo on 5 April 2012. Following the success of the Centre, a branch office was opened in Batticaloa on 2 October 2012, and a second was opened in Matara on 12 February 2013. Each office offers face-to-face free legal advice as well as operating a hotline for the provision of advice by telephone.
Since the inception of the Shelter for Integrity program in April 2012, TISL have managed over 436 enquiries from victims of corruption. Whilst many of these cases are currently being pursued, there has been successful resolution in 3 of these cases.
The substance of these complaints is wide-ranging, from fraud, bribery and blackmail in liaisons with State institutions, to corruption and malpractice in the workplace. A large number of these complaints stem from concerns regarding mismanagement of land deeds, non-issuance of permits, illegal sale of State land, and unlawful occupation of land. In these instances, clients were advised of appropriate avenues to rectify irregularities and seek redress.
TISL are working effectively to meet their mandate of reducing corruption through capacity building initiatives with State institutions. After identifying a need for expertise in State land issues through direct community consultation, TISL devised and implemented training programs for workplace sectors, including a recent training for journalists in Badulla. TISL has also received a request from the Polonnaruwa police force to conduct a similar session.
Government agencies have provided positive feedback to TISL and continue to support the work conducted at ALACS. Moreover, following referral by TISL, State bodies, including the Human Rights Commission, Child Protection Authority, and Railway Department, have initiated all investigations regarding corruption-related complaints.
TISL continues to work toward its goal of ‘building a nation that upholds integrity’. By empowering Sri Lankan citizens to pursue corruption-related complaints, TISL hopes to engender change at a grassroots level with the effect of altering community expectations regarding corruption. TISL believes that this shift in expectation, coupled with partnerships with State institutions aimed at improving governance and service delivery, will lead to a new culture of non-tolerance of corruption.
Through the growth of the ALAC program in 2012, TISL have identified the need for free legal advice clinics in regional areas without a permanent ALAC, and accordingly have scheduled a number of sessions across Sri Lanka over the next few months, including in Puttalum on 24 February 2013, Negombo on 27 February 2013, Vavunia on 2 March 2013 and Mannar on 3 March 2013. Clinics in Embilipitiya, Matara and Mahiyangana, and Monaragala will also be held during mid-March 2013.