Study Tour on Public Interest Litigation
During the period from August 20th 2008, until August 26th, HRN received seven lawyers from the Center for Protection of Rights of Disadvantaged Citizens (CPRDC), based in Wuhan University, in the People’s Republic of China. The seven lawyers who are professors or lecturers at Wuhan Law School, visited Japan to study Japanese legal practice.
This study tour was conducted as a part of a CPRDC Project, with the aim of researching experience of public interest litigation conducted across the Asian region, both in theory and in practice.
In Tokyo, Human Rights Now (HRN) provided the Chinese lawyers with opportunities to exchange opinions with Japanese lawyers who have experience of public interest litigation, especially litigation related to the environment, pollution, and consumer-related issues. Also, in Hokkaido, HRN took those Chinese lawyers to a free legal counseling service organized by local lawyer groups (in Kitami City), in addition to setting up meetings for the exchange of opinions and information with local lawyers. HRN hopes that this project will contribute to the development of public interest litigation in Asia, as well as lead to the formation of new networks of public interest litigation in the region.