Third World Legal Studies Volume 4 Article 5 1-5-1985 Legal Aid in Asia: A Basic Human Right? Clarence J. Dias Follow this and additional works at: http://scholar.valpo.edu/twls Recommended Citation Dias, Clarence J. (1985) "Legal Aid in Asia: A Basic Human Right?," Third World Legal Studies: Vol. 4, Article 5. Available at: http://scholar.valpo.edu/twls/vol4/iss1/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Valparaiso University Law School at ValpoScholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Third World Legal Studies by an authorized administrator of ValpoScholar. For more information, please contact a ValpoScholar staff member at
[email protected]. II. COUNTRY AND AREA STUDIES ASIA LEGAL AID IN ASIA: a Basic Human Right?* Clarence J. Dias** 1. From Legal Aid to Legal Resources: Into the "Alternative" Development Decade of the Eighties During the 1960s and 1970s, Asia witnessed a significant expansion of legal aid programs sponsored by government, professional or social work agencies. Legal aid in developing countries has had its roots in the tradition that it is the responsibility of the legal profession to provide legal services to all, regardless of financial position. Jurisprudential con- cepts of "equality before law," "equal protection of law" and "rule of law" have provided, in the past, the rationale for legal aid in Asia. In most Asian countries during the years after independence, however, there began to emerge a new interest in legal aid as an instrument for achieving distributive justice. This interest responded to growing political and social pressures within these countries for a more egalitarian as well as a more prosperous society.