Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG)
Our lawyers work with the Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG) to provide research and advice on conflict resolution to governments in conflict. PILPG, an international non-governmental organization nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, has advised numerous governments on the legal aspects of peace negotiations, post-conflict constitution drafting, and War Crimes Tribunals concerning the protection of human rights, self-determination and the prosecution of war crimes.
KHMER ROUGE TRIBUNAL
Davis Polk has provided pro bono legal assistance to the Office of the Co-Prosecutor of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, also known as the Khmer Rouge Tribunal (KRT). The United Nations Assistance to the Khmer Rouge Trials (UNAKRT) represents the international side of the “hybrid” court known as the ECCC.
Under the terms of agreement between the United Nations and the Royal Government of Cambodia, the Extraordinary Chambers will bring to trial senior leaders of Democratic Kampuchea and those who were most responsible for the crimes and serious violations of Cambodian penal law, international humanitarian law and custom, and international conventions recognized by Cambodia, that were committed during the period from April 17, 1975 to January 6, 1979.
PILnet – THE GLOBAL NETWORK FOR PUBLIC INTEREST LAW
In the spring of 2011, our lawyers began working on two international human rights projects for PILnet. The first involves research on the implementation of human rights judgments in the U.S. and South Africa in order to assist PILnet in advocating for the implementation of Supreme Court judgments protecting human rights in Nepal. The second involves women’s rights under Sharia law in order to assist PILnet in advising local regions in Indonesia.
CYRUS R. VANCE CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE
Davis Polk has been involved in numerous matters for the Vance Center. Among them, it participated in a delegation for International Justice to Peru in order (i) to promote the development and adoption of a new Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct for the Peruvian Bar and (ii) to assist Peruvian law firms and corporate legal departments in the implementation of the Pro Bono Declaration for the Americas.
SOUTH AFRICAN VOTING RIGHTS CASE
A team from Davis Polk initiated and led a successful constitutional challenge to South Africa's voting law, which failed to provide for absentee voting by South African citizens residing abroad. The challenge was brought on behalf of 12 South African citizens residing abroad, who, under current legislation, were unable to vote in South Africa's elections on April 22, 2009.
Under the electoral law prior to the ruling by the Constitutional Court on this case, only limited classes of citizens who were abroad on election day could vote. The lawsuit effectively disenfranchised all South African citizens working in foreign countries, including the United States. The challenge was based essentially on the theory that voting is a fundamental constitutional right and there was no valid basis upon which to deny that right to expatriates.
Our application was the only non-partisan challenge to the legislation, although several political parties also applied to have the legislation declared unconstitutional. All the cases were heard together on March 4, 2009. In two judgments handed down on March 12, 2009, the Constitutional Court unanimously ruled that all categories of registered voters who are away from South Africa on election day are entitled to vote at a South African embassy or consulate.
Human Rights Work Involved in Conjunction With Law School International Clinics
Two of our lawyers have taught human rights clinics at local law schools and brought related pro bono projects back to the firm. First, in conjunction with the Fordham Human Rights Clinic, one of our associates traveled to Sierra Leone to assist in efforts to eradicate the traditional practice of female genital mutilation.
A second associate co-supervised a trip to Malawi with the Fordham Law School International Human Rights Clinic to conduct a week of field work. Partnering with a Malawian human rights non-profit organization, the Center for Human Rights Education, Advice and Assistance (CHREAA), the clinic team spent several days in one of Malawi’s largest prisons. The team gathered information in order to file individual complaints before the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on behalf of prisoners who have been held for more than two years without trial. The team also met with various legal advocates to discuss prison reform measures in Malawi, and led a one-day training session on international human rights law for a group of paralegals affiliated with the Paralegal Advisory Service Institute.
.