Bangladesh Legal Aid & Services Trust (BLAST)

BLAST’s mission is to make the legal system accessible to the poor and the marginalized. BLAST envisions a society based on the rule of law in which every individual, including the poor, marginalized and excluded, in particular women, children, peoples with disabilities, adivasis, and dalits, have access to justice and in which their human rights are respected and protected.

BLAST works to:

• provide free legal aid and to undertake public interest litigation and advocacy activities to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any person for any reason
• administer a trust fund for establishing and maintaining legal aid and services units supported by the grants from the Trust;
• establish legal aid/assistance and human rights protection units in the bar associations and in different localities of the country, including rural areas;
• coordinate the activities of the units with other organizations, including NGOs working in related fields;
• publish original research articles and reports about matters useful to lawyers;
• promote improved legal education, including awareness of responsibility for providing legal aid to disadvantaged persons, and to promote, establish and maintain national institutions for legal education, and
• organize seminars, symposiums and extension lectures on various law subjects for advocates, teachers, law students, and to promote participation in international conferences, workshops, and training and educational programmes