Ajay Shankar Jha
August 30, 2018Mr. Jha is currently preparing his thesis in Criminal Law for his LL.M. degree at the Tribhuvan University in Nepal. He is the Executive Director PDS-Nepal (Public Defender Society of Nepal). This not-for-profit organization was created to provide effective defense services to indigent men, women, and children charged with criminal offenses in Nepal, and to make Nepal’s legal aid system more effective, accessible, and sustainable. Mr. Jha is a leading advocate for the right to counsel for the poor and for the last 10 years has been on the front lines of efforts to address the growing access to the justice crisis. He is a national expert in the field of legal aid, and recently convened leading civil society organizations in Nepal with the goal of exerting pressure on the government as it develops a new legal aid policy. Legal Aid reformation is not work which can be done within a few days a year; it requires advocacy, litigation, and dialogue and is a fundamental, under-addressed, and overlooked right in all countries.