At first, in 1970, about tens of poor people were helped by Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (“ILAF”) in Jakarta. In 1980’s, we have 14 offices and 15 posts in 15 provinces from Aceh to Papua, and provide legal aid for thousands of people, not only the poor (economic level), but also marginalized (social, political and cultural), and oppressed (physical and psychological) people, in all sex/gender and age. Legal Aid which ILAF provided, includes case handling and advocacy (litigation); education and empowerment of public legal resources (especially for the victims); research, study and advocacy of policy (laws and legislation), campaign and publications.

We found that, the basic problems, firstly, structural poverty that resulted the unemployment, mass dismissal, homeless, inadequate living standards in urban area, forced evictions for public policy on business development, etc. Then, the scope of problems has expanded, including human rights violations during the authoritarian regime of new order, which resulted a number of oppression and repression to the pro-democracy activists. Recently, ILAF also provide legal aid for the specific cases on the protection of vulnerable groups (woman and children), LGBT issues, persons with disability, and religious minority groups.

In 2005, we initiated the establishment of Law Number 16 Year 2011 regarding Legal Aid.