Arab Lawyers' Union (ALU)

Union des avocats arabes (UAA)

Contact Details

Main address: SG: Farouk Abu Eissa, 13 Itehad El-Mohameen El-Arab St, Garden City, Cairo, Egypt, Tel: (20 2) 795 2486, Fax: (20 2) 794 7719, E-mail: alu (at) link.net , E-mail (2): alu (at) intouch.com

Aims

Act in the interests of the Arab Nation to achieve its national objectives; facilitate contacts between Arab lawyers; safeguard and develop legislative and judiciary language; assure the freedom of lawyers in their work and the independence of magistrates; allow all Arab lawyers to take cases in any Arab country; harmonize the conditions of the legal profession; establish and harmonize links with international legal organizations; restore the study of Muslim law as a basis for law; promote and protect human rights.

Official Relations

United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)^* (Special); United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)^* (Consultative Status); International Labour Organization (ILO)^* (Special List).

Activities

Commissions (9): Arab Affairs; Palestine; Unification of Law in Arab Countries; Defence of Civil Liberties and Rule of Law in Arab Countries; Harmonization of Legal Terminology; Rules on the Legal Profession; Socialization; Support of the Palestine Liberation Movement; Defence of Palestinian Resistance Workers. Engaged in founding an Arab Organization for Human Rights (AOHR). Decolonization action against racism, racial discrimination and apartheid.

Publications

Al Hakk (The Law) in Arabic with French and English sections. Documents; studies.

Members

Bar associations (15) in 15 countries:

• Algeria, Egypt, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Mauritania, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia.

• Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestinian territories, Syrian Arab Republic, Yemen.

UNESCO NGO Section Data

Type of Relation with UNESCOConsulatative Status

Admission Date1974

Reclassification date2005

Programme sector: EDNo

Programme sector: SCNo

Programme sector: SHSYes

Programme sector: CLTNo

Programme sector: CIINo

Programme sector: BSPNo

Programme sector: AFRNo

Name and contact details of NGO focal point at UNESCOM. Solinis German
SHS/SRP/POL

History1944 Creation of the Permanent Bureau of the Arab Lawyers' Congress 1974 Category C 1989 Category B 1996 Formal consultative relations (150 EX/ONG.2) (150 EX/Dec. 7.2) 2002 Renewal of formal consultative relations and re-evaluation in two years (165 EX/ONG.2) (165 EX/Dec. 9.5) 2005 Operational relations (171 EX/39) (171 EX/Dec. 49)

Contribution to UNESCO's programmes The ALU is a significant partner for UNESCO in the Arab countries, gathering a significant expertise in the field of democratization and the rights of the person. A seminar regional on violence against women was organized in co-operation with UNESCO. The DG's appeal on Tolerance (1994) was translated and diffused in the Arab World. Studies on the statute of women in the Arab countries and domestic violence. 165 EX/ONG/2 (October 2002): Cooperation between ALU and UNESCO during the period under consideration was confined to information and occasional participation in the Organization’s activities. It did not reply to the consultations on the C/4 and C/5 documents. However, ALU remains a potentially important partner in Arab countries owing to its expertise in human rights, the status of women and the protection of the child. It would be appropriate to revitalize cooperation with this organization, which could pursue its official relations with UNESCO through the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues (FIDH), Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) and the Arab Institute for Human Rights.

Keywords Discrimination,Human rights,Racism,Islam

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