Access to Justice Submissions to International Bodies
One technique we have used to advance the right to counsel in civil cases is to participate in submissions to international bodies arguing that the United States' failure to provide legal representation to low-income people in certain categories of cases violates the United States' international obligations. Our work has included:
North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation
We filed a petition to the Mexican government alleging that the failure of the United States to allow unskilled, non-agricultural foreign workers with temporary work visas ("H-2B workers") access to federally funded legal aid violates the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation. In October 2007, the Mexican government responded to the complaint, asking the United States Department of Labor sixty-nine sets of detailed questions regarding the extent to which the workers have access to legal assistance, and the extent to which state and federal laws, courts and agencies protect the employment rights of H-2B workers.
Inter-American Court of Human Rights
We participated in an amicus brief in support of a Mexican government petition to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights alleging that various types of U.S. discrimination against undocumented immigrants violate international human rights instruments. Part of the amicus brief argued that the deprivation of legal assistance for undocumented and H-2B workers left those workers unable to protect their rights, in violation of those human rights instruments. In a 2003 Advisory Opinion, the Court agreed, stating, "[W]hen fear of deportation or denial of free public legal services to immigrants prevents immigrants from asserting their rights, the right to judicial protection is violated."
U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
Participation in a shadow report to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, arguing that the United States' failure to provide a civil right to counsel violates the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. In March 2008, the Committee agreed, writing that it "notes with concern the disproportionate impact that the lack of a generally recognised right to counsel in civil proceedings has on indigent persons belonging to racial, ethnic and national minorities."