Call for Proposals: Pretrial Detention and Access to Legal Aid in Egypt

The Open Society Global Criminal Justice Fund and Arab Regional Office announce an open call for proposals for civil society organizations in Egypt working in the criminal justice field focusing on the reduction of the overuse of pretrial detention and increasing access to criminal defense for indigent defendants in Egypt.

Criminal defendants often suffer due to a presumption of guilt from both the state and society. As a result, they do not always have access to adequate representation and endure the overuse of pretrial detention as well as other abuses.

Funding Priorities

The Open Society Global Criminal Justice Fund and the Arab Regional Office welcome civil society projects that combat the overuse of pretrial detention and increase access to defense for indigent criminal defendants in Egypt. Strategies could include, but are not limited to:

• Provision of quality legal aid in ordinary criminal cases and analysis of processes and decisions to identify advocacy opportunities/priorities;
• Examining who is in pretrial detention for ordinary offenses, what their process is like, and the impact of access to quality legal aid on their cases;
• Efforts to put into practice 2006 amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code that limit the length of pretrial detention for some crimes;
• Strategies to ensure effective judicial oversight of police arrest and detention practices;
• Efforts to bring successes achieved in the juvenile justice system into the adult system, such as placing social workers in police stations and providing legal aid in detention centers; and
• The development of civil society coalitions to advance joint advocacy strategies for the effective implementation of existing policies or for policy reform.

Eligibility

The Open Society Foundations will consider projects from domestic and international NGOs or civil society groups active in Egypt.  Coalitions of NGOs are also encouraged to apply.  Funding is available for projects addressing one or more of the above priority areas. 

In general, support will not be available for stand-alone trainings and conferences, service provision without clear research or advocacy goals, or individual academic study, research, or travel.

To Apply

Concept papers of two to three pages should be submitted by no later than December 25, 2010 to info@osimena.org.

Decisions on moving to a full proposal will be given no later than January 17, 2011.  Projects should not plan to start before April 1, 2011. 

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