On November 29 – 30, 2016, representatives of the Association for Democratic Initiatives participated in a conference held in Brussels, titled “Access to Justice in EU and beyond: What role for civil society?”. The conference was also a closing event of the 4-year project “Triple A for Citizens: Access to Information, Advice and Free Legal Aid”. At the same time, the conference launched the “Triple A for Citizens European Network”, which is open to all European organizations which provide free advice, information or legal aid services to citizens.

The conference gathered a great number of representatives of the EU institutions and CSOs from the Western Balkans and Turkey. The first day of the conference was focused on citizens’ access to justice in times of crisis, as well as the role that civil society organizations can play in that regard. Representative of the ADI was a panel moderator which was titled: “The role of CSOs in providing information, advice and free legal aid – a citizen to citizen perspective”. The second day was devoted to the achievements of the Triple A project. The quality standards for providers of free legal aid were presented by the project partners, including the representative of the ADI, together with the project outcomes.

The project “Triple A for Citizens: Access to Information, Advice and Free Legal Aid” is implemented in the framework of the European Commission’s Partnership program for civil society organizations. The project targets the Western Balkans and Turkey, and it is based on the principle that everyone has the right to be informed about their rights and find remedies for their enforcement.

The agenda of the conference in PDF can be downloaded here: Access-to-Justice-in-the-EU-and-beyond-What-role-for-civil-society