PILnet honored the extraordinary efforts by the legal community and NGOs to advance social justice and protect the public interest around the world at an awards dinner and reception held in Bangkok November 14.
Nearly 250 attendees gathered at the Anantara Riverside Bangkok Resort to celebrate the work of our partners in four awards categories: the Global Partnership Award, the Local Impact Award, the Pro Bono Publico Award, and the Popular Choice Pro Bono Award.
The Global Partnership Award recognizes the most innovative pro bono legal project undertaken as a cross-sectoral collaboration with an impact felt in more than one country. This year, PILnet received 14 nominations for this category, each addressing critical global issues such as climate and environmental justice, support for the incarcerated, advocacy for trafficking victims, and access to justice for underserved communities. From these, five outstanding projects were shortlisted and reviewed by an external committee of judges. The winner of the 2024 PILnet Global Partnership Award was the Kenyan Death Penalty Resentencing Project by Reprieve, Linklaters, and Lineal. This project facilitated access to justice for Kenyan prisoners eligible for resentencing, and has helped secure life-changing case outcomes for individuals.
The Local Impact award recognizes the most innovative pro bono legal project with an impact felt at the local or national level. For this award, PILnet received 10 nominations for projects in jurisdictions from all around the world, including Singapore, the United States, South Africa, Ireland, and Guatemala. These projects responded to issues such as climate action, racial justice, and the protection of refugees and those forcibly displaced. The winner of the 2024 PILnet Local Impact Award is Support for Ukraine: Irish Legal Community and NGOs by Helping Irish Hosts, Irish Red Cross, Irish Women Lawyers Association, Maya Krushlova (Filgarden), Public Interest Law Alliance, The Bar of Ireland, The Law Society of Ireland and the Ukraine Ireland Legal Alliance, A&L Goodbody, Arthur Cox, DLA Piper, Mason Hayes & Curran , Matheson, McCann Fitzgerald, and O’Sullivan Kenny. This collaboration identified the legal needs of the Ukrainian community in Ireland and provided them with free legal information, support, and advice.
The PILnet Pro Bono Publico Award recognizes legal professionals with an extraordinary, passionate, and long-standing commitment to service for the public good. This year’s recipient was Haya Emaan Zahid, a leader in Pakistan’s legal landscape and a powerful advocate for social justice. Haya is a Barrister-at-Law with over 15 years of experience in legal empowerment and justice reforms. She has made key contributions to prison reform, gender justice, and climate resilience in Pakistan.
As a founding member of the Legal Aid Society, she combines her expertise in legal frameworks, policy advocacy, and grassroots work to create a more inclusive and resilient legal system for marginalized communities. Since 2004, Haya has served as a legal expert for the Committee for the Welfare of Prisoners, nominated by the Government of Sindh. Through this role, she has profoundly impacted the lives of prisoners across the region, providing them with critical legal aid, empowerment, and pathways to justice.
PILnet’s newest award, the Popular Choice Pro Bono Award, recognizes the pro bono project that PILnet Global Forum attendees view as the most impactful. Forum registrants had the opportunity to vote on the shortlisted projects for the Global Partnership Award and Local Impact Award prior to the awards dinner. The 2024 Popular Choice Pro Bono Award went to Protecting Refugees from Unlawful Deportation by Norton Rose Fulbright South Africa Inc, Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town. The Norton Rose Fulbright Impact Litigation team, representing the Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town, successfully brought a challenge to the Refugees Act and regulations in South Africa. The act allowed the Department of Home Affairs to treat refugees as illegal if they failed to renew their asylum seeker visas within 30 days of expiry. The Constitutional Court agreed with the arguments advanced on behalf of Scalabrini that the provisions were contrary to South Africa’s international law obligations.
PILnet congratulates these winners and the excellent work of all of the nominees. We look forward to another year of developing partnerships between the private and public sectors, and working together to use law as a tool for social change.
To learn more about PILnet’s Global Awards, click here.
