Cause lawyering in a fragile democracy: the Indonesian Foundation of Legal Aid Institutes (YLBHI)

Abstract

This study explores how democratic change affects lawyers and the strategies they use to promote social change, through a case study of Indonesia and the Indonesian Foundation of Legal Aid Institutes (Yayasan Lembaga Bantuan Hukum Indonesia, YLBHI) and its regional offices, known as LBH. I examine YLBHI-LBH by drawing on literature on cause lawyering and legal mobilisation. Under the authoritarian New Order, YLBHI was Indonesia’s most prominent cause lawyering organisation and an influential hub of resistance to the Soeharto regime. The far-reaching democratisation process that began after Soeharto fell in 1998 established many conditions supportive of cause lawyering. Yet the impact of demo..