The “Schar Mitzvah” (“Pro-Bono”) program
– legal aid for the needy
As an integral
part of the firm’s routine work, its partners promote access to the legal
system, regardless of race, religion, sex, or financial status.
The firm
donates hundreds of hours pro bono for promoting and expanding legal aid for the
needy.
Adv. Shahar
Welner
is chairperson of the IBA legal aid
committee, chairperson of the “Schar Mitzvah” program – the IBA’s legal aid for
the needy, and a volunteer in the “Lev HaMishpat” (“Heart of the Law”) project
of HaTnuah LaMilchama BaOni (Movement for Combating Poverty), a registered
non-profit society.
Adv. Amir
Altshuler
is a member of the IBA legal aid
committee, the head of the banking law team in the “Schar Mitzvah” program, and
a volunteer in the “Lev HaMishpat” (Heart of the Law) project of HaTnuah
LaMilchama BaOni (Movement for Combating Poverty), a registered non-profit
society.
The “Schar
Mitzvah” program, pro bono legal aid for the needy, has been operating since
September 2002. To date, legal advice and aid has been given to thousands of
applicants who came to one of the program’s 70 rights centers spread throughout
Israel.
IBA President
Dr.
Shlomo Cohen and IBA Legal Aid Committee chairperson Adv. Shahar Welner
founded the program; Adv. Joseph Toussia-Cohen and Adv. Shahar Welner
are its co-chairpersons.
In April 2002,
the IBA central committee approved the
“Schar Mitzvah” program, which
was proposed and presented by the pro bono team that had been appointed by the
central committee. The team members were Advocates Shlomo Cohen, Yehuda Landau,
Rachel Ben-Ari, Orna Lin, Nissim Azulay, and Shahar Welner.
The program is
the largest pro bono legal aid system in Israel, in which attorneys provide
legal aid to the needy and to people in distress who lack the means to pay for
legal services, who would otherwise be unable to fully exercise their legal
rights.
Chamber of
Advocates Law – putting it into practice
The “Schar
Mitzvah” program is the practical implementation of Section 3(2) of the Bar
Association Law 5721-1961, which states, “The IBA is entitled, among other
things, to provide legal aid to the needy.” Indeed, the goal of the “Schar
Mitzvah” program is to extend access to the legal system, and to defend the
rights of those who lack the means to pay for professional legal service.
Volunteer
lawyers
– To date, over 3,500 lawyers have enlisted
in the program and provide pro bono assistance, whether by providing legal
counsel to applicants at the aid centers or by accepting cases for handling and
representation.
The right of a litigant to representation – a panel chaired
by Orly Vilnai
Participants: Director
of the Courts Administration Moshe Gal, Central District Court Judge Hila
Gerstel, former Minister of Finance Roni Bar-On, “Schar Mitzvah” program
chairperson Adv. Shahar Welner, and Adv. Yuval Elbashan.
Ministry of justice, Prof. Yaakov Neheman, about Schar Mitzva program