With tens of thousands killed in the recent Indian earthquake, and a quarter of a million more left homeless, it is vital relief organisations get the right goods, people and know-how to the area as quickly as possible.But, whether in response to a natural disaster or helping reconstruct a war-torn country, that is only possible if there are effective procedures in place.

And it is in those behind-the-scenes roles that lawyers play an innovative part.Luc De Wever, head of the legal department of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Geneva, says the federation's lawyers spend 80-90% of their time preparing for disaster response.This includes reviewing contracts for goods and services, the rights and duties of relief workers, and how and in what conditions people, money, and goods will be transferred.He says: 'We need to limi t liabilities and risks that we will mess something up, waste money, time or people's efforts, or damage the confidence of either the beneficiaries of emergency relief, or those who donate money.'The Red Cross has also launched an initiative to promote an international disaster-response law.

Mr De Wever says: 'There have been dozens of treaties and resolutions and instruments since the Second World War but there is no codified book setting out overfly rights, landing rights, customs duties, export and import restrictions, visa requirements etcetera, for natural disasters.

We need to look at whether a specific category of law is needed, which sets out countries' obligations, perhaps similar to the Geneva Convention which covers the law of war.'In London, Michael Meyer, head of international law at the British Red Cross Society, deals with issues such as neutrality or ethics, or queries about the laws of war -- his specialism -- while three solicitors, all formerly with City law firms, and one part-time solicitor, concentrate on legacies, contracts, and legal and insurance issues.Not all charities which provide emergency relief have in-house legal teams.

Mike Gaouette, head of emergencies for the Save the Children Fund, says it already has well-established systems for responding to a natural disaster: 'Speed is of the essence and, once systems are in place, you don't need an additional layer of consultation.'While he uses outside law firms for day-to-day business, Save The Children uses local lawyers if it needs advice in crisis situations.'When the Kosovans were forced out of the country into Macedonia, we had never worked there.

So, we needed to register and start more or less from scratch with all the legal requirements for taking on local staff, tax regulations, purchasing waivers, but we solve those on a case-by-case basis using lawyers from the area,' he says.Joss Saunders, a partner in Oxford law firm Linnells, spends two days a week as Oxfam's company secretary and legal adviser.

His remit includes staff safety, insurance and contractual issues such as public procurement and tendering.When Oxfam provided locally bought food for Bangladeshi flood victims, for instance, he had to ensure the contracts complied with the terms of its EU grant.

'Exporting dairy cows from one country to another raises interesting contractual issues,' he says.Solicitor James Darcy, Oxfam's co-ordinator of humanitarian relief in Asia, acts as unofficial adviser on public international and humanitarian law.He says: 'We spend a lot of time thinking about the international legal framework in terms of human rights, and in formulating solid arguments to lobby governments about their responsibilities.'He says Oxfam is increasingly involved in helping groups who want to bring class actions, for instance over land entitlement.

He explains: 'Following the Indian earthquake, there may well be claims for compensation or for resettlement and we would help them on a community basis to make their case.'One of the key problems following wars or natural disasters is co-ordinating emergency operations as relief agencies pour in from all round the world.Rachel Kiddell-Monroe, who trained at niche pensions law firm Sacker & Partners in London before taking up human rights work abroad, is regional advocacy co-ordinator for international medical relief organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in Costa Rica.

She says: 'Rwanda was a turning point.

There were 120 different organisations running around trying to do something, with people repeating what others were doing, so some of the relief efforts were inefficient and expensive.'This situation has now changed, Ms Kiddell-Monroe explains: 'The recent earthquake in El Salvador was a very good example of how much better the international response can be.'Her advocacy project -- in which she helps indigenous groups pursue their rights to medical care -- takes her to Colombia, which she finds a 'terrifying' country.

'We don't use armed guards because we try to stick by the principle that we offer humanitarian aid and to meet arms with arms doesn't seem very humanitarian.

Under extreme circumstances, we might get people to guard our house at night but that is a big decision.'This is another relatively recent development.

Up until the mid-1990s, Ms Kiddell-Monroe says aid workers never expected to be targeted, but since then there have been killings and kidnappings.

'You realise you don't have very much immunity'.She will use international humanitarian law to press for individuals' rights to shelter and medical care, while local lawyers deal with issues of registration or customs.

She explains the approach: 'The idea behind our advocacy work is you need to do more than just the hands-on side -- that is putting on a plaster but it doesn't deal with the infection.'Charles Briefel is another British lawyer who has taken his legal expertise to the frontline.

A criminal barrister with Hardwicke Building in London, he has worked in Sarajevo for the last year as senior legal counsel for human rights under contract to the Foreign Office for the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe).He says: 'From a legal perspective it is a lawyer's dream, although when living and working in Bosnia I never lose sight of the appalling scale of the tragedy that occurred here.

I am involved in formulating the international community's policy on rule of law issues during the post-conflict transition from an authoritarian, communist legal system, to a western-style democracy.'As might be expected, Mr Briefel says it is 'fascinating work' and includes reforming the legal system and the criminal code, depoliticising the judiciary, monitoring domestic war crimes trials, ensuring the legal system protects returnees from discrimination as part of a policy to reverse ethnic cleansing, and drafting defamation laws and legislation to protect freedom of expression and journalists' rights.He says it is important to remember that 'you cannot just apply English legal principles to the system here', adding: 'You have to be sensitive to the country's different legal make-up and background.'Mr Briefel's head of chambers, Nicholas Stewart QC, who becomes president of the Francophone global lawyers association Union Internationale des Avocats in September, says the profession has a crucial role to play in post-conflict situations where countries were often left without a functioning legal system.

'But an almost universal feature of emergencies is that there is tremendous duplication if not quadruplication of effort.'He welcomes the joint International Bar Association (IBA) and American Bar Association initiative in setting up the International Legal Assistance Consortium (ILAC), which will establish a panel of lawyers who will go into a country to make an assessment of the steps needed to reconstruct the administration of justice.Mark Ellis, the IBA's executive director, says the IBA is finalising the consortium's legal structure, and creating a research room and database of organisations and individuals, so that ILAC can respond swiftly.

He says: 'Once invited in, we aim to go in on the coat-tails of the peacekeepers because it is our belief that you can't wait to deal with the breakdown in the rule of law -- it must be dealt with at the same time as policing and other fundamental needs of society.'For Ms Kiddell-Monroe, it is not just physical risk lawyers have to cope with.

She was in Rwanda before Costa Rica, and says: 'You never forget the things you see.

They stay with you for ever.

But it gives you a special outlook on life -- you value every day more.'