Dharamshala: On 2 July 2013, Tibetan Legal Association (TLA) announced its formation in a press conference held at the CTA DIIR Lhakpa Tsering Memorial Hall in Dharamshala, North India. The TLA is a non-governmental, non-profit, voluntary organization formed by the association of Tibetans with a legal background.
The five executive members of the association are Ms. Deechen Gyalmo Gyari, the President, Mr Tsering Ngudup, the general secretary, Mr. Lobsang Dakpa and Ms. Tenzing Choesang, the PR officers and Mr. Tenzing Mangyal, the treasurer.
The members expressed their gratefulness at receiving His Holiness's blessings for their endeavor and their gratitude towards Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay and Penpa Tsering, speaker of Tibetan Parliament for gracing the inaugural and concluding sessions of the meeting.
Members of the association received an audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama at his residence in Mcleod Ganj, Dharamshala, on 29 June.
In his hour-long address, His Holiness the Dalai Lama emphasised the importance and the responsibility of the newly-formed Tibetan Legal Association to provide legal assistance to poor and needy Tibetans and local Indians.The association aims at carrying forward the non-violent struggle of the Tibetan community by addressing the Human Rights crisis in Tibet and garnering International support. As a platform to serve and protect their community, TLA offers to provide free legal aid to financially unstable and underprivileged individuals and families.
Some of the main objectives of the association are to safeguard the legal interests of the Tibetan community in exile, provide Tibetan interpreters and organize workshops for Tibetan law students to aid their academic growth.
TLA also hopes to strengthen ties and co-operate with local, regional and international organizations with objectives similar to that of theirs and formulate projects to ensure the well-being of the Tibetan community.
The TLA office will be located in Dharamshala.
