An online legal platform was selected as the lone finalist from the Philippines at a global competition on upholding the rule of law.
Tisya Hustisya, a Facebook initiative for free legal advice, was among the 10 finalists in the “Access to Justice” category of the World Justice Challenge 2022.
This feat was announced on its Facebook page on March 10.
“Tisya Hustisya has been selected as the only Philippine finalist in the Access to Justice category, out of 305 international submissions for the World Justice Challenge 2022!” the post reads.
“The #WJChallenge is a global prize competition to identify, recognize and promote good practices and high-impact projects and policies that advance the rule of law,” it added.
Tisya is a program of IDEALS (the Initiatives for Dialogue and Empowerment through Alternative Legal Services), a non-profit organization that brings legal services accessible to vulnerable groups of the society.
Launched in June 2020, it provides free legal services and advice to those who need them via Facebook and hotlines amid the tough lockdowns implemented at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the World Justice Project’s website, Tisya is the Philippines’ first human rights chatbot that was developed for “marginalized and vulnerable groups such as women, informal workers, and victims of human rights abuses.”
“Women constitute 80% of its user base. Tisya was designed by female lawyers and the team takes care to ensure that Tisya uses a tone and language that can encourage its audience to assert their rights,” its description reads.
So far, the following is its major accomplishments since it was launched:
- The Facebook page gained 32,114 followers and responded to 25,006 legal queries.
- The page has a rating of 4.7 stars.
- The human rights Facebook group currently has 1,155 members.
- The labor group has 1,359 members.
- The women’s rights group has 2,561 members.
Tisya will hopefully be regionalized through partnerships with law schools and groups in the near future.
“Through their Social Behavior Campaign tool kit and knowledge sharing with other organizations, there are opportunities to scale similar initiatives. Beyond providing legal advice, the Tisya Hustisya team hopes to provide legal representation for gender-based violence victims,” the website reads.
Meanwhile, the following are the other finalists of the WJC under the same category:
- Appui pour la Protection de l’Environnement et le Développement (APED); Mighty Earth; CED; ProForest in Cameroon
- Cambodia Bridges to Justice from Cambodia
- Freedom for Our Sisters in Oman
- Building Bridges in Burundi (BBB) in Burundi
- Kosovo Legal Services Company in Kosovo
- Sag Salim in Turkey
- Hidalgo’s indigenous mediation program in Mexico
- The Justice for All Program (JFAP) in Ghana
- The Parent Network in South Africa
There are two other categories for the competition. These are the Anti-Corruption and Open Government theme, and Equal Rights and Non-Discrimination theme.
The World Justice Forum events, including the awards ceremony, will take place at The Hague in the Netherlands from May 30 to June 2.
