Engagement and Empowerment of Citizens. ALACs have proven effective in empowering people in the fight against corruption. ALACs reject the notion that people are apathetic in the face of corruption. The work of ALACs has proven that people demonstrate the will to resist corruption and become involved in the fight against corruption if provided with simple, credible and viable mechanisms to do so.

Social Justice. Corruption is stealing. Corruption is when those with more power take advantage and steal from those with less. This is not fair at the individual level, and this is not in the public interest at the national level. ALACs try to find recourse for victims of corruption. ALACs try to help whistleblowers. And adding up all the information, ALACs try to push for local and national governance and development which is less corruption prone, and more sustainable.

Accountability. ALACs are an intermediary civil society institution which serves to help citizens participate legally and democratically in the shaping of their governance systems. Where citizens have corruption complaints, there must be responsive public mechanisms to give objective hearing to these complaints. Where complaints are sufficiently grounded, responsible authorities must undertake energetic, timely and fair investigation of alleged misconduct. ALACs are there to hold government, including the judiciary, prosecution and police to account. Where citizen complaints receive no action from governments, ALACs become dogged watchdogs on these cases.

ALACs talk to people (clients). Most ALACs operate toll-free telephone lines that are staffed by trained volunteers or legal students. Many of the Centres also cater to walk-in clients at a public location. Some also offer information centres with books, pamphlets and guides to public services that help citizens become better acquainted with their rights.

ALACs help clients resolve their complaints.The advisor will take stock of the case, relevant documentation provided by the client, and provide legal advice and detail recourse options for the client. Client confidentiality is observed. The ALAC advisor generally encourages clients to file their complaint with the responsible government office and will help the client properly present the case.The Centre further assists clients with cover letters and follow-up on submitted complaints. When necessary, the Centre can also support the client in seeking out the media to create more pressure. It must be noted, though, that the ALACs do not actively investigate cases (that is the job of police and prosecutors). ALACs also generally do not represent clients in court.

ALACs use case information to advocate for change. ALACs aim to create dialogue, offering informal feedback and working partnerships with government institutions tasked with tackling corruption. The effectiveness and credibility of the Advocacy and Legal Advice Centres rests on the very concrete evidence they use to advocate for institutional, procedural and administrative reforms. Many interesting advocacy campaigns have been developed by ALACs, such as a Croatian campaign promoting access to information and the right to know, a campaign on whistleblower legislation and protection in Romania (read more here), and on improving administrative procedures around land and property titles in Azerbaijan.