We are aware of the current social context both in our country and worldwide. For more than 15 years, Estudio Echecopar has been the groundbreaking Firm in providing pro bono services, and this is one of the cornerstones and core values of our Firm.
Since 2006, Estudio Echecopar accepted the challenge of providing pro bono services in Peru.
As of today, Estudio Echecopar has not only contributed by taking pro bono cases, but it has also become a benchmark and a champion of pro bono work in Peru. In line with the Pro Bono Declaration for the Americas, the Firm has committed to a minimum of 20 hours dedicated to pro bono services per lawyer per year.
As a Firm, we are convinced that, in order for the pro bono service to reach more people, we team with other organizations, which share our interests. We are part of two very important entities. The first one is the Alianza Pro Bono - Peru, a non-profit organization which aims to promote and organize the pro bono work of law professionals, and act as a meeting point between such professionals and vulnerable groups. The Firm has been part of the Executive Committee of this organization since its foundation until today. The other entity that we collaborate with is TrustLaw Connect, the flagship service of the Thomson Reuters Foundation that promotes pro bono work globally. In fact, through this platform, this organization connects the best law firms in the world with high-impact NGOs or social enterprises in need of legal services.
Estudio Echecopar, through our partner Samuel Abad, filed an Amparo action upon which judgment under the res judicata doctrine was issued. This showed that not every disability automatically leads to an interdiction, because you cannot "protect" a person by restricting that person's rights, an accurate opinion included in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which was applied in the case in which our firm provided legal advice.
As a result, Executive Order No. 1384 was issued, recognizing and regulating the legal capacity of people with disabilities under equal conditions. This amendment to the Civil Code represents an important landmark in recognizing the full citizenship of people with disabilities.
Legal editorial: Disability is not inability (ES)
Disability and interdiction: an exemplary decision (ES)
The Firm took on the execution of the winning project of the 2018 Pro Bono Challenge, a competition organized by Alianza Pro Bono which rewards projects made by law students in universities throughout Peru. In this case, we provided assistance to the winning project submitted by two law students from the University of Piura, in order to draft a report providing legal tools aimed at improving the benefits obtained from the agricultural activity carried out by cherimoya farmers within the San Mateo de Otao region in the Huarochirí province.
The Firm is actively working with the Alianza Pro Bono and the non-profit organization Nietos Itinerantes in workshops and legal clinics for educating senior citizens. On May 2019, the Firm had the chance to participate, represented by Hugo Alonzo, an associate of the Dispute Resolution practice group, in a training in Ayacucho aimed at 150 senior citizens, mostly Quechua speakers, and, thanks to the help of the organization's members who acted as translators, it was possible to answer many of their doubts about legal capacity and other matters related to civil law.
In October 2019, our Firm, together with Alianza Pro Bono and Nietos Itinerantes offered a Free Legal Workshop and Counselling for Senior Citizens that took place in the House of the Elderly (Casa del Adulto Mayor, in Spanish) of the La Victoria District. On that occasion attendees participated in a workshop on legal capacity, interdiction and maintenance, after which their questions were answered.