Asia Fair Trial Practices Roundtable
The duty to protect: Building an encrypted and digitally secure fair trial law practice in Asia
Legal practice across Asia is undergoing a profound and irreversible shift towards digital systems. Case files, client communications, case management platforms, witness coordination, and court hearings are increasingly conducted online or stored digitally. This transformation brings significant gains in efficiency and access to justice, but it also brings new and serious obligations. As legal practice digitalises, the duty of lawyers to protect client confidentiality does not diminish it deepens, extending into every digital tool, platform, and channel used in practice.
This roundtable will explore what the duty to protect means for legal practitioners in Asia in a digital practice, the pressures and risks they face and how these affect clients and representation, and practical tools that can help practitioners sustain and strengthen their digital security over time through everyday practice.
Date: 9 July 2026
Time:
Sydney: 6:00 PM l Singapore: 4:00 PM l Bangkok: 3:00 PM l Mumbai: 1:30 PM l British Summer Time: 9:00 AM l Central European Summer Time: 10:00 AM
Platform: Zoom
Speakers
Lionel Blackman, Solicitor and Co-founder, Centre for Law and Transformative Change
Miriam Chinnappa, Executive Director and Co-founder, Centre for Law and Transformative Change
Bruce Lasky, Co-founder/Co-director, BABSEACLE
Agenda:
Time (Bangkok Time)
Activity
3:00 – 3:05 pm
Welcome
3:05 – 3:15 pm
Opening Frame The duty to protect: why digital security is a professional obligation not a technical option
3:15 – 3:55 pm
Working with the Guide Walkthrough of the Practical Guide
3:55 – 4:15 pm
Peer exchange and practical problem-solving in small groups
4:15 – 4:30 pm
Report-back
4:30 – 4:45 pm
Closing and Next steps
Who Should Attend?
- Legal professionals and practitioners
- Paralegals and other professionals, including but not limited to social workers and healthcare providers
- Law journalists
- Law lecturers
- Judges
- Prosecutors
- Scholars and academics
- Researchers in the field of law and human rights
- Advocates for fair trial practices
- Civil society, NGOs, and individuals who are engaged in the work related to fair trial and pre-trial detention.
Resources
DIY Practical Guide for Defence Lawyers
This practical guide helps practicing lawyers protect client confidentiality and secure communications in challenging environments where privacy and security may be at risk.
This guide does not constitute legal advice. Practitioners must verify the current law in their jurisdiction.
Criminal Justice Proceedings Involving Persons with Disabilities
The checklist is designed as a readily referable tool to support effective participation in criminal proceedings, with a focus on accessible accommodation practices that can be applied in day-to-day legal work.
This checklist does not constitute legal advice. Practitioners must verify the current law in their jurisdiction.
Previous Roundtables
Trust-Building Strategies When Assisting People Who Use Drugs Facing Criminal
10 April 2025
28 November 2024
Strategies for Addressing Pre-Trial Detention
25 July 2024
Promoting the Rule of Law through Fair Evidence Practice
21 March 2024
Death Penalty and Serious Offences Sentence Mitigation, Strategies and Barriers
5 October 2023
Contact
For more information, please contact the BABSEACLE team at [email protected] or reach out to the Centre for Law and Transformative Change (CLTC) at https://cltc.law/contact/.