Community Legal Advisor Program

Functions

• Mediate disputes
• Provide assistance in navigating authority to clients
• Give information regarding legal questions
• Conduct rule of law trainings & workshops
• Serve on GBV, and rule of law coordination meetings
• Monitor the police, courts, government institutions & corrections

Training

• Mediation (by American Bar Association)
• Rape & inheritance laws
• Child maintenance & child rights
• Labor law
• Civil vs. criminal procedure
• Social response to GBV
• Trauma response to GBV (by Center for Victims of Torture)
• Land law (by Norwegian Refugee Council)
• Correct procedure for Liberian National Police, the Judiciary, the County Attorneys & Corrections

Cases

The monitors currently average 4-5 cases each per month.  The topics of these cases range from:

• Assault
• Debt
• Forced Marriage
• Child Neglect
• Child Trafficking
• Rape & Other Forms of GBV
• Breach of Contract
• Wrongful Detention
• Police Brutality

Parish Based Committees

• Situated within individual parishes in every district
• The eyes, ears and implementing agents of the JPC
• Human rights and rule of law education programs
• Intervene in small scale disputes
• Serve as monitoring and advocacy outlets for the JPC
• rights in more rural areas

In his capacity as a JPC Parish Based Committee member in Harper, Maryland County, Wisner has played an active role in promoting peace throughout his community. The PBC in Harper talks with husbands known to engage in GBV, discusses improper behavior with teachers and students, and helps to resolve small disputes such as pigs that frequently got loose leading to increased tensions in the Hance St, community and threats of violence.