The Rift Valley Newcastle Justice Project - set up following the twinning in 1999 of the Newcastle Law Society and the Rift Valley Law Society in Kenya - is to write an open letter to lawyers in the north-east city calling for their support to secure its long-term future.

The project has set up an embryonic legal aid scheme for young people, women and children involved in court proceedings in Kenya, whether civil or criminal.


Thanks to a £25,000 grant from the national Law Society Charity and voluntary contributions, it has been able to appoint a lawyer administrator as well as provide library and training resources. The project has also created a budget to pay local lawyers a fee to take on approved cases.


According to David Gray, a director of the project, the funding is 'very much short term'.


He said in the letter: 'The intervention of the lawyers has meant that the judiciary, the police, and the administration are slowly being made aware of these legal rights, and again slowly children and women in particular are receiving protection that previously was not available to them.


'We take for granted in this country a system of legal aid. No such system exists in many countries - including Kenya. Fortunately, in the Rift Valley there has developed a tradition and commitment by the lawyers to become involved with these cases.'


In September, a delegation of seven lawyers from Nakuru will visit Newcastle.