On Friday, June 19, IBJ India Fellow Ajay Verma and San Francisco Public Defender Manohar Raju teamed up with the Union Territory of Pondicherry Legal Services Authority (UTPLSA) to produce a successful one-day training session in Pondicherry, India. The training focused on the topics of the importance of early access to counsel and the nature of the lawyer/client relationship.
Over the course of the day, training participants took a practice test to brush up on the fine points of Indian law, developed a legal strategy for defending victims of police torture, and presented their vision of how the criminal justice system could fully protect the rights of accused persons. Among the 45 lawyers present were the President of the Pondicherry Bar Association, a member of the bar council in Tamil Nadu, and the member secretary of the UTPLSA, all of whom expressed their appreciation for the training and urged IBJ to continue with similar events.
The Pondicherry training marks IBJ India’s third criminal defense training session in India, following previous events in West Bengal and New Delhi.
The President of the Pondicherry Bar Association (seated, left) presents his vision for improving criminal defense in India.