The IBAHRI, in conjunction with the Open Society Institute (OSI), the Media Legal Defence Initiative, the IBA Media Law Committee, the Southeast Asia Press Alliance and Hong Kong University, has supported the establishment and on-going progress of a regional media law group in Southeast Asia. The group provides a forum to promote capacity in litigating media law cases and to discuss and defend freedom of expression in the region. Currently the group includes representatives from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Networking and information-sharing

The group provides an opportunity for lawyers involved in media cases to share experiences, provide cross-regional support and work together to improve the media defence litigation skills of all of its members. Each country involved in the group has a national coordinator, who is responsible for regional interaction and arranging and facilitating in-country trainings and other events.

The group has also had the opportunity to work closely with top media lawyers from around the world, who have provided their support to a number of activities.

Some of the activities that have been delivered so far are summarised below.

Regional trial observation training in Thailand

In July 2008, the IBAHRI held a regional trial observation training in Bangkok to familiarise participants with the skills needed to conduct trial observations. Areas such as fair trial standards, the role and conduct of trial observers and the preparation of observation reports were covered in-depth. The IBAHRI also held discussions on international standards relating to freedom of expression with journalists from television and online and print publications. For more information, click here or follow the link on the right. The IBAHRI was grateful for funding from OSI for this activity.

Amicus brief - Time v Suharto

The IBAHRI, in collaboration with a variety of commercial, journalistic, legal and non-government partners, submitted an amicus brief regarding the application for judicial review in the case of Suharto v Time Magazine (TIME) in Indonesia. For more information click here or follow the link on the right. To read the amicus brief in Bahasa Indonesian click here. To read the brief in English click here.

National media law training - Thailand

On 1-3 July and then 6-8 July 2008, the Thai Press Development Foundation, with the support from OSI, organised two identical sets of trainings for Thai litigation lawyers, based in Bangkok and the provinces, to sharpen their skills in defending media cases in court as part of activities of the Southeast Asia Media Lawyers group. Altogether 30 Thai lawyers participated in the two trainings held at Sri Racha, a costal town east of Bangkok. Mark Stephens and Rob Balin, top media lawyers from the United Kingdom and the United States respectively, jointly held a presentation on international freedom of expression standards to the trainees.

National media law training - Malaysia

On 8 July 2008, the Freedom of Expression and the Media Defence Working Group of the Malaysian Bar Council's Human Rights Committee together with the Media Legal Defense Initiative and the Centre for Independence of Journalism (CIJ) jointly organised a Media Defence Lawyers Training Programme with support from OSI and Charles Glasser. This full day workshop on media law targeted those who already have a working experience of libel and other laws affecting the media. The training was aimed to provide guidance in bringing a holistic and practical approach when defending the right of freedom of expression of the media, and was to include discussion on the latest developments in libel law, protection of a journalist's sources, and sharing of strategic tips on challenges currently facing some media owners, journalists and bloggers in Malaysia.