Kristina Conti urges public education on lawyers’ roles

Human rights lawyer Kristina Conti believes there is a need to educate the public that lawyers should always work for the good of all.

She disclosed that she continues to receive threats since she began helping victims of abuses by powerful officials. These include online ridicule, hate messages, and red-tagging.

“It’s a noble profession, and whether you’re a corporate, public interest, or a government lawyer, we are all bound by the same principles. When legal systems are broken in one part of the world, it weakens the rule of law globally,” Conti said.

The Supreme Court’s Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations 2022–2027 (SPJI) states that its goals can only come to fruition if members of the legal profession, together with other justice stakeholders, commit themselves to delivering timely and fair justice.

This was underscored by Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo during one of the Ethics Caravans for the Proposed Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability (CPRA) on 10 November 2022.

“Our goal to deliver timely and fair justice is one that can be achieved if we work together. Efficiency, innovation, and access, the outcomes of the SPJI, may only be attained through meaningful cooperation between the members of the bar, the bench, court officials and employees, other public officials, and court users,” said Chief Justice Gesmundo.

He further stressed: “It is high time for all of us to take responsibility of giving dignity and nobility to our profession, and by so doing, we will strengthen and fortify the trust of our people, not only in lawyers, but in the justice system as a whole.”

Conti has received veiled threats through messages and menacing phone calls that have affected her sense of security and peace in private life. Her appearance has also been attacked.

She admitted that these efforts to target her have taken a toll. “It does take a toll in the long run. It takes a great deal of mental fortitude to withstand that amount of hate,” she said.

Conti hopes the public will understand the true role of lawyers — that they must work for the good of all.

She noted that in developing countries, lawyers are often viewed as corrupt or complicit in perpetuating inequality.

Conti, who has been helping victims of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, said The Law Society of England and Wales wrote to Philippine authorities expressing support for her and her work.

“It’s proof that lawyers around the world are banding together—an attack on one is an attack on all,” she said in the article, adding that the message from the international legal community could shame the government into taking action.

The rights lawyer thanked the group for featuring her situation and expressed hope that what she went through would not be normalized anywhere.