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Advocacy And Legal Advice Centre (ALAC) |
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 The Advocacy Legal Advice Centre (ALAC)’s main aim is to enable citizens seek advice, propose solutions and report corruption and customer service problems relating to both private and public institutions. This has been done through the free toll line (telephone 951), where citizens can phone in to bring out their concerns free of charge, walk-in, or through mail (e-mail inclusive).
Transparency International’s Advocacy and Legal Advice Centres (ALAC) rejects the notion that people are apathetic in the face of corruption. They demonstrate that people do become actively involved in the fight against corruption when they are provided with simple, credible and viable mechanisms to do so.
The ALAC has four main components:
- Toll-Free Hotline: Victims of corruption receive initial advice about their rights and, where prima facie evidence of corruption exists, referral for further legal counseling to the ACC or other relevant institutions
- Legal Advice: Citizens are helped articulate, develop, file and pursue their complaints with the assistance of legal professionals employed by the centers
- Advocacy: Based on the cases presented to the centers, advocacy is carried out to raise awareness about the sectors and institutions which are the subject of most complaints (e.g., press releases showing statistical breakdowns of complaints received) and in highlighting attention to specific institutional and legal vulnerabilities and providing recommendations
- Capacity Building: Support is provided to public and private institutions and communities to strengthen their capacity to respond to corruption issues
The reasons for the establishment of ALAC includes the following:
- The cases which come to ALAC are well-documented and articulated, facilitating the work of government anti corruption agencies to effectively handle them
- There is a growing awareness that for reforms to be sustainable and for citizens to be aware of their rights, it requires a strong and dynamic partnership between communities and civil-society, and not merely reliance on strengthening laws and institutions
ALAC helps shape arguments on controversial topics since they are driven by the collaboration with general public
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