About NUPL

The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers was formally founded on September 15, 2007 as a nationwide voluntary association of human rights lawyers as well as law students, paralegals and legal workers in the Philippines, committed to the defense, protection, and promotion of human rights especially of the poor and the oppressed.

The clientele of the NUPL are the marginalized and oppressed sectors — the farmers, workers, fisherfolk, urban poor, women, youth, students, children, migrant workers, indigenous peoples, Moro people, minority groups, political activists and human rights defenders.

NUPL was organized to provide mechanisms for collaboration, coordination, assistance and facilitation of legal services in the local and national levels. As a frontline advocacy group, NUPL is directly engaged in litigation and legal consultancy as a venue for advocacy on issues affecting the rights of the people and an arena to serve them even more effectively and efficiently.

The NUPL is oriented towards the active defense, protection and promotion of human rights covering the peoples’ civil, political, social, economic and cultural rights, including the advocacy and assertion of their inherent right to self-determination.

As a principal mission, the NUPL is united and committed to render competent legal services, with the use of one’s legal education, skills, training, knowledge and experience, to the marginalized sectors for the upholding and promotion of their rights and freedoms.

It is an affiliate of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) which has consultative status with the United Nations. It also has linkages with various international human rights lawyers organizations.