Learning the Law

Last month the United Nations Development Programme organized a workshop on "Strengthening Access to Justice in Indonesia," which explored ways to provide legal assistance to the poor and the marginalized in Ternate, North Maluku. People's access to legal servicesin particular to those in the lower rungs of societal ladderis indeed minimal in this part of the country. The situation is made more complicated by the fact that Ternate comprises many small islands, while legal agencies tend to be located in the center of town. For the past 12 years, Daur Mala, a non-governmental organization, has attempted to raise local people's awareness about their legal rights by sending out teams of paralegals to the villages. Tempo English reporter Syari Fani recently returned from North Maluku and filed the following report.