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    Legal Aid in India

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    Medha Chiranewala
    Legal Aid in India article

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    Legal Aid in India

    Uploaded by

    Medha Chiranewala
    2 views2 pages
    Legal Aid in India article

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    legal aid in india

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    Legal Aid in India article

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    2 views2 pages

    Legal Aid in India

    Uploaded by

    Medha Chiranewala
    Legal Aid in India article

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    LEGAL AID IN INDIA

    The law was always envisioned to be fair and free, free of social stigma and status
    and free from the whims and fancies of the rich. Legal aid has been the backbone
    of this system when it comes to provision of assistance to people lacking the means
    to afford representation and access to the court system. It is instrumental in
    providing 'equality before the law,' the 'right to counsel,' and the 'right to fair trial.’
    In fact, Article 39A of the Indian Constitution emphasizes that legal aid is an
    inalienable element of ‘reasonable, fair and just' procedure.
    In a country like India where twenty-two per cent of the population lives below the
    poverty line, legal aid becomes an indispensable tool to provide justice and prevent
    the exploitation of the uneducated and the impoverished. Legal aid in India is
    governed by the Legal Services Authority Act, 1987 and headed by the National
    Legal Services Authority (NALSA). Legal aid is generally characterised by
    representation by an advocate in legal proceedings free of cost.
    The Legal Services Authority Act of 1987 was hailed by lawmakers at the time as
    a revolutionary path to equality but over the years it has become yet another well-
    meaning social justice law with different realities on paper and on ground. There
    have been numerous instants of legal aid lawyers asking for money from their poor
    clients and neglecting work in retaliation of not getting any. Being underpaid and
    overworked prevents a large section of lawyers from joining legal aid services.
    This shortage of legal aid workers also causes difficulties in availing free legal aid.
    Shortage of funds allotted and limitations on pro bono work also acts as an
    impediment in the reach of legal aid. All these factors have culminated into India
    having a weaker legal aid program as compared to other Democratic countries in
    the West.
    In order to strengthen legal aid in India, the policy makers should conduct surveys
    and research to assess the ground realities of this program and frame policies and
    budget accordingly. Incentivising lawyers to join legal aid services is the need of
    the hour, lack of incentives, funds and manpower has been keeping hundreds of
    lawyers away from this field, instead pushing them towards corporate culture.
    Since these lawyers are not public prosecutors and working for a small
    honorarium, they can give up a case anytime they want, hence stringing along the
    poor client. Another hindrance in the whole process is excessive bureaucratic
    work, suppose a lawyer takes up a legal aid case, they get a sum of rupees
    thousand for a jail visit but in order get the honorarium they need the signatures of
    all the jail authorities and then need to go to the legal aid office and submit a report
    each time, making it a cumbersome process. To increase the efficiency of the
    system excessive bureaucratic work should be done away with and to remove the
    shortage of manpower, not only practicing lawyers but also law teachers, senior
    law students and trained social workers should be integrated into the system. There
    should be campaigns to spread awareness among the illiterate population to
    educate them about their legal rights and remedies available to them. There should
    also be promotion of more informal paralegal services in places where basic access
    to justice opportunities and infrastructure are absent. Lok Adalats should also be
    promoted as they settle disputes quickly and by counselling and discussions, it
    provides quick justice with mutual consent of both parties while reducing burden
    on the courts.
    While the legal aid system has it's objectives in the right place, there is still a lot of
    ground left to be covered when it comes to making it integrating and approachable.
    Legal aid in India is a boon to women and children and the poor, uneducated
    classes of the society and with some overhaul and changes in regulations, it can
    truly become the backbone of justice, as it was intended to be.

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