On June 14, 2024, the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) co-hosted the International Fair Trial Day (IFTD) and Ebru Timtik Award Ceremony at the University of the Philippines College of Law. This gathering brought together legal professionals, human rights advocates, and journalists from around the world to shed light on the deepening threats to fair trial rights in the Philippines. We invite you to read the official IFTD 2024 Event Report, which presents key discussions, testimonies, and findings from this landmark event.
The report documents the increasing harassment of judges and lawyers, the misuse of laws to suppress dissent, and the continuing crisis of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances. It provides a detailed examination of the lack of judicial independence and the broader climate of impunity that enables these injustices to persist. Through personal accounts and expert analyses, it highlights the urgent need for legal reforms and stronger protections for those who stand in defense of justice.
A significant moment of IFTD 2024 was the presentation of the Ebru Timtik Award to NUPL “for giving meaning and substance, at the risk of personal harassment, false accusations, imprisonment, death threats, and even state-mandated liquidations to the Philippine constitutional concept of due process of law.” NUPL was recognized for rendering “legal services especially to political dissenters, the poor and the oppressed, pro bono, without any expectation or hope of reward.”
Together with the Organizing Committee, NUPL presents this report not only as a record of what transpired during IFTD 2024 but also as a call to action. The struggle for fair trial rights in the Philippines continues, and we need more lawyers and law students to stand with us. By reading this report, you will gain a deeper understanding of the challenges ahead and how you can help. Whether through legal services, advocacy, or education, every effort counts in the fight against impunity.