The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) is an INGO

Ingo

Ingo is a first name in contemporary Scandinavia and Germany, and a historical name in France. It is the male version of the name Inga, used in the same region, and as a name for a tropical plant....

 having General Consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

.

Background

Some prominent group of jurists and human rights

Human rights

Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

 activists in Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

 founded ALRC in 1986.

It places particular emphasis in its work on the areas of cultural, social

Social

The term social refers to a characteristic of living organisms...

 and economic rights and the right of development.

It is a body committed to the development of legal self-reliance and empowerment

Empowerment

Empowerment refers to increasing the spiritual, political, social, racial, educational, gender or economic strength of individuals and communities...

 of people.

The centre promotes and support specific legal services and resource programmes promoting self-help at the local level.

ALRC works closely with and support regional, national and local level with the groups in this field and protecting their autonomy

Autonomy

Autonomy is a concept found in moral, political and bioethical philosophy. Within these contexts, it is the capacity of a rational individual to make an informed, un-coerced decision...

 and independence

Independence

Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory....

.

The centre presses where appropriate for the introduction of effective government legal services.

It also seeks to strengthen and encourage positive action on legal and human rights issues by the bar and other legal bodies at local and national levels.

The ALRC carried out noteworthy tasks in Asia between the years 1996 - 1998, the more notable ones conducted for judge

Judge

A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...

s and lawyer

Lawyer

A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

s in Cambodia

Cambodia

Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...

 and Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

.