INDEX

Contents Pg. No.

Introduction 5

Background to the Study 6

Literature Review 7

Objective and Research Methodology 8

Findings of Study and Analysis 10

Case Laws and Contributions of the courts 12

Role of Social Organisations 13

Issues surrounding Legal Aid 14

Legal Aid in different countries 16

Conclusion 17

Suggestions and Recommendations 18

Bibliography 19

1
 INTRODUCTION
Legal aid means extending legal assistance free of cost to the people who do not have adequate
financial resources to engage a lawyer to represent them in legal proceedings. The insuperable number
of legislations necessitates legal aid for an individual. The people belonging to the marginalized
sections of society are unaware about their rights and are deprived of legal protection. Further, they
are even unaware of the Legal Services Act which monitors the implementation of the Schemes and
Programmes relating to Legal Aid in India. Legal Aid provides an opportunity to the people who were
denied access to justice and who were victims of crime. It helps remove the inequalities existing in the
society. The Legal Aid movement first began in the United States of America. Some of the provisions of
the International Conventions relating to Legal Aid helped in creating schemes relating to the same in
India. Article 8(e) 1 of the American Convention on Human Rights provides the Absolute Right to Legal
Aid with a counsel provided by the state to the accused. Further, Article 6 2 of the European
Convention on Human Rights provides Legal Aid to the people who do not have adequate financial
resources to engage a lawyer to defend their cause. Article 39A 3 of the Constitution of India imposes a
duty on the State to provide free Legal Aid to the poor and marginalized sections of the society and
also confers power to the State to fashion new strategies and enact new Acts and Laws regarding Legal
Aid. Further, Article 14 4 of the Constitution of India makes it mandatory for the state to ensure
equality before Law. In Cases such as Hussainara v. Home Secretary, State of Bihar 5 and Kishore Chand

1 American Convention on Human Rights.art.8(e)-” the inalienable right to be assisted by counsel provided by the state, paid or
not as the domestic law provides, if the accused does not defend himself personally or engage his own counsel within the time
period established by law.”
2 Ibid. art.6-” In the determination of his civil rights and obligations or of any criminal charge against him, everyone is entitled to a
fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law. Judgment shall be
pronounced publicly but the press and public may be excluded from all or part of the trial in the interests of morals, public order
or national security in a democratic society, where the interests of juveniles or the protection of the private life of the parties so
require, or to the extent strictly necessary in the opinion of the court in special circumstances where publicity would prejudice the
interests of justice”
3 Constitution of India, 1950, art. 39 (A): “The State shall secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice on a basis
of equal opportunity, and shall, in particular, provide free legal aid, by suitable legislation or schemes or in any other way, to
ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities.”
4 Ibid. Art. 14 “The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the
territory of India Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.”
5 1979 AIR 1360(India).
2
v. State of Himachal Pradesh 6 it has been reiterated by the Courts that Legal Aid should be treated as a
right under Articles 14, 21 7 and 22(2) 8. Legal Aid was recognized as a fundamental right by the Court

in the case of Sunil Batra v.Delhi Administration 9. The Legal Aid Scheme was first introduced by Justice
P.N. Bhagwathi. “Processionals Justice to the Poor” 10 a report by Justice Krishna Iyer highlighted the
nexus between poverty and Law. The NALSA Scheme, Legal Aid Counsel Scheme, Lok Adalat Scheme,
Counseling and Conciliation Scheme are the some of the Schemes which promote awareness regarding
Legal Aid among the people.

BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

The Legal Aid Philosophy can be traced even in the Ancient Indian Society. Legal Aid is a constituent in
the Rig Veda which provides monetary assistance to the Individuals facing the threats or attacks. The
36th 11 and 42nd 12 slokas under Chapter XII highlights the importance of saving people from violent
people. Further, Sloka 103 13 of Chapter III states that a King who offers financial assistance to the
needy is the winner of the wealth and is always protected by the Gods. During the rule of Aurangzeb
and Shahjahan, the Vakils were directed to give Free Legal Advice to the poor. During the Vikramaditya
period, an Individual was not required to spend even a chicken feed to secure Justice. India had
witnessed an unrefined and undeveloped methodology of dispensing justice to the needy and the poor
during the Pre-British Period. The expensive system of Administration of justice by the British made
Legal Aid to the poor a necessity. Order 33 of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908 provided a provision for
filing suits by poverty-stricken people, without payment of the required court fees. Bombay Legal Aid
Society was founded in the year 1924 with an object to make justice accessible and provide Lawyers to
the poverty-stricken. On 22nd December 1949, a Committee headed by Justice Bhagwati recommended
for a Qualified and Partial Legal Aid and also highlighted the scope of Legal Aid. Further, a committee
headed by Trevor Harries recommended a Three-tier Institutional Structure for the delivery of the
Services of Legal Aid. . Mrs. Indira Gandhi made Legal Aid a part of the twenty point programme which

6 1990 AIR 2140(India).

7 Constitution of India: “No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to a procedure established by
law.”
8
Ibid. art 22 (2): “Every person who is arrested and detained in custody shall be produced before the nearest magistrate within a
period of twenty four hours of such arrest and no such person shall be detained in custody without the authority of a magistrate.”

8
9 Sunil Batra v. Delhi Administration,1980 AIR 1579(India).
10 Report of the Expert Committee on Legal Aid,May,1973.
11
12
13
3
she launched during the period of emergency. In the year 1980, a committee was set up under the
Chairmanship of Justice Bhagwati to keep a check on the implementation of the Legal Aid. The main
objective of this committee was to Create Legal Awareness among the people through promotion of

legal literacy and by organizing legal aid camps in rural areas. The report of the First Law Commission
highlighted the importance of Legal Aid to the poor and the needy and also envisaged the need for
Legal Aid. In the year 1962, the third All India Lawyers Conference recommended certain provisions.
Some of them are the Representation of the Indigent by a State-Counsel in all cases which included
proceedings U/S 488 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 14, amending Order XXXIII of the Code of Civil
Procedure 15, amending the Rules of the Supreme Court and High Courts. Article 39A 16 was inserted later into
the Constitution in the year 1976 which ensures Social Justice.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE
During the research, many articles, books, reports, judgments of Supreme Courts and High Courts,
common law nations, material available on various online databases such as Manupatra and Lexis
Nexis, material available on various websites were referred. Justice S.Muralidhar’s book, ‘Law, Poverty
and Legal Aid’ 17 helped in framing the objectives of the Research Paper. Online Databases such as,
Maupatra, SCC Online and Lexis Nexis helped us in studying various Landmark Judgments. The
Research Papers published earlier on this subject focused on the implementation of various Schemes
relating to Legal Aid in India, but very few Research papers focused on the comparative Study and the
background of Legal Aid. The unique characteristic feature of this paper is that it consists of even the
history of legal aid and also a comparative study.

14 Cr.Pc,Sec.488,”A person with fraudulent Imprisonment for Ditto Ditto Ditto intention going through the years and fine.
ceremony of being married, knowing that he is not thereby lawfully married.”
15 CPC,Order XXXIII,”Suits may be instituted by indigent person-- Subject to the following provisions, any suit may be
instituted by an indigent person.”
16 Art. 39A, supra note 3 at
17 S.Muralidhar,Law,Poverty and Legal Aid:Access to Criminal Justice,2004. .
4
 OBJECTIVE AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

1.1 Statement of Problem

1.2 Terminologies
1.3 Objective of the Research
1.4 Research Method
1.5 Data Collection
1.6 Coverage and Scope
1.7 Hypothesis

1.1 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

The right to free legal aid has come into existence by the righteousness of decisions taken by courts in
various cases and is one of the fundamental rights guaranteed to each and every citizen under the
Constitution of India. The law must be framed in such a manner that it takes care of the poor and
needy. The right of legal representation is being provided under Article 39A of the Constitution of India
to the accused who has is incapable of engaging a lawyer to defend his cause. The Role of Judiciary in
making this right available to each and every person is evident from the Background of Legal Aid.
Earlier, court took quite a restrictive approach, as far as the interpretation of the statutory provisions
was concerned, as it was only considered as a privilege given to the accused and it was further, his duty
only to ask for a lawyer if he needed one. And the only task in this scenario that the judge was assigned
was to make sure that the person got such an opportunity. Further, this paper seeks to analyze the
Implementation of Legal Aid, Issues surrounding Legal Aid and to analyse the Condition of Legal Aid
and access to Justice across various countries.

1.2 TERMINOLOGIES

 Accused - A person or a group of people charged with or on trial for Crime. 18

18 Oxford Dictionary,3rd Edition, 2010

5
  Legal Aid- Payment from public funds allowed, in cases of need, to help pay for legal
proceedings or advice. 19

1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE RESEARCH

This paper aims at:

1. Analyzing and understand the importance of Legal Aid in India.

2. Analyzing the problems faced in the implementation of the Legal Aid Schemes

3. Analyzing the implementation of Legal Aid in Other Countries.

1.4 RESEARCH METHOD

The Methodology adopted in this paper follows a Qualitative Method of Research. It compared
decisions of the Judiciary in various cases relating to Legal Aid.The paper also discussed about the past
events regarding Legal Aid.

1.5 DATA COLLECTION

The Data collected for this project is both primary and secondary in nature. The study occurred from
various Articles, Journals, e-books, references from various Online Database sources such as
Manupatra , Lexis Nexis and Research Papers on the same topic.

1.6 SCOPE

The case studies in this research paper include various cases relating to Legal Aid and the important
events at both, global and national level regarding Legal Aid.

1.7 HYPOTHESIS

Legal aid is a part of the Directive Principles of State Policy under Article 39A of the Constitution of
India and contributed to an ideal shift in the Legal Services. Though, there are so many schemes
relating to Legal Aid, the system is inadequate. The reason for the failure in the system is the improper
implementation of the Law by the Lower Judiciary and the Government related Authorities.

19 Ibid.
6
 FINDINGS OF STUDY AND ANALYSIS

The Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987:

The Legal Services Authority Act, 1987 which provides for establishing Lok Adalats helped in reducing
the workload on the Courts. This Act allows a person to engage a lawyer to defend his or her case.
Section 12 20 of the Act lays down the criteria for providing Legal Aid. A person belonging to the
Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe, a victim of trafficking, beggar under Article 23 21 of the
Constitution, a woman or a child, a mentally or otherwise disabled person, an industrial workman, a
person in custody, a person in receipt of annual income less than Rs.1 Lakh are entitled for free Legal
Aid. A nationwide network has been contemplated under this Act for providing free Legal Aid.

LOK ADALATS:

20 Legal Services Authority Act 1987: Sec. 12 “Every person who has to file or defend a case shall be entitled to legal
services under this Act if that person is- a member of a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe, a victim of trafficking in human
beings or beggar as referred to in Article 23 of the Constitution, A woman or a child, a mentally ill or otherwise disabled
person. a person under circumstances of undeserved want such as being a victim of a mass disaster, ethnic violence, caste
atrocity, flood, drought, earthquake or industrial disaster or an industrial workman or in custody, including custody in a
protective home within the meaning of clause (g) of Section 2 of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956(104 of 1956); or
in a juvenile home within the meaning of clause(j) of Section 2 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 1986 (53 of 1986); or in a
psychiatric hospital or psychiatric nursing home within the meaning of clause (g) of Section 2 of the Mental Health Act,
1987(14 of 1987) or in receipt of annual income less than rupees nine thousand or such other higher amount as may be
prescribed by the State Government, if the case is before a court other than the Supreme Court, and less than rupees
twelve thousand or such other higher amount as may be prescribed by the Central Government, if the case is before the
Supreme Court.(g) in custody, including custody in a protective home within the meaning of clause(g) of Section 2 of the
Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956(104 of 1956); or in a juvenile home within the meaning of clause(j) of Section 2 of
the Juvenile Justice Act, 1986 (53 of 1986); or in a psychiatric hospital or psychiatric nursing home within the meaning of
clause (g) of Section 2 of the Mental Health Act, 1987(14 of 1987);or (h) in receipt of annual income less than rupees nine
thousand or such other higher amount as may be prescribed by the State Government, if the case is before a court other
than the Supreme Court, and less than rupees twelve thousand or such other higher amount as may be prescribed by the
Central Government, if the case is before the Supreme Court.”

21 Constitution of India: art 23 “Prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labour: 1. Trafficking human beings and
and other similar forms of forced labour are prohibited and any contravention of this provision shall be an offence
punishable in accordance with law 2. Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from imposing compulsory service for
public purpose, and in imposing such service the State shall not make any discrimination on grounds only of religion, race,
caste or class or any of them.”

7
Lok Adalat is one of the mechanisms of Alternate Dispute Redressal, where cases pending in the Court
or at the stage of pre-litigation are settled in a friendly and peaceable manner. Under the Legal
Services Authorities Act 1987, the decree passed by the Lok Adalat is considered to be a decree of Civil
Court and is binding on all the parties. Cases can be referred under section 18(1) 22 of the Act to Lok

Adalat under two circumstances namely, if a case is pending before the Court of Law and if the Case is
at the pre-Litigation Stage. The composition of Lok Adalats is at the State, High Court, District and Taluk
levels. At the State Level, the member secretary of the State Legal Services Authority constitutes single
bench comprising of a retired or sitting judge of High Court or any other Judicial Officer, one or two
individuals from the Legal Profession and a social worker who actively participates in the schemes or
programmes relating to Legal Aid. Similarly, the bench would be constituted at the High Court Level by
the Secretary of the High Court. At the District level, the Secretary of the District Legal Services
Authority constitutes the bench comprising of a retired or a sitting Judicial Officer, one or two
personalities from the Legal Profession and a social workers who is a Legal Aid activist. Similarly, the
bench will comprise of the same but it would be constituted by the Secretary of Taluk Legal Services
Committee. Cases in National Lok Adalats are disposed off very quickly in a very large number. The
permanent Lok Adalats are well organized under Section 22B 23 of the LSA, 1987. It comprises of a
chairman, two members for conciliation relating to transport, telegraph, etc. The jurisdiction of this
Court is upto Rs.10 Lakh. The award of this court is binding on the parties and is final. In order to
smoothen the dispute resolution the Mobile Courts are organized. On an average from the past three
years 50 Lakh cases have been disposed each year. Over the Last decade, 3.15 Crore cases have been
disposed by the Lok Adalats. States such as Uttar Pradesh have disposed the highest and maximum
number of Cases.

22Legal Services Authority Act 1987: Sec 18(1): “The Central Authority, State Authority or the District Authority shall
maintain proper accounts and other relevant records and prepare an annual statement of accounts including the income
and expenditure account and the balance-sheet in such form and in such manner as may be prescribed by the Central
Government in consultation with the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India.”
23 Legal Services Authority Act,1987,Sec 22,cl B “Establishment of Permanent Lok Adalats.— Notwithstanding anything
contained in section 19, the Central Authority or, as the case may be, every State Authority shall, by notification, establish
Permanent Lok Adalats at such places and for exercising such jurisdiction in respect of one or more public utility services
and for such areas as may be specified in the notification,Every Permanent Lok Adalat established for an area notified under
sub-section (1) shall consist of—a person who is, or has been, a district judge or additional district judge or has held judicial
office higher in rank than that of a district judge, shall be the Chairman of the Permanent Lok Adalat; and two other persons
having adequate experience in public utility service to be nominated by the Central Government or, as the case may be, the
State Government on the recommendation of the Central Authority or, as the case may be, the State Authority, appointed
by the Central Authority or, as the case may be, the State Authority, establishing such Permanent Lok Adalat and the other
terms and conditions of the appointment of the Chairman and other persons referred to in clause (b) shall be such as may
be prescribed by the Central Government.”

8
 CASE LAWS AND THE CONTRIBUTION MADE BY THE COURTS

S.NO CASE NAME FACTS JUDGEMENT

1. Hussainara Khatoon Large number of men and Expeditious release of the

women were imprisoned with under trials was ordered as
v.
charges of trivial offences for so they were kept in jail without
Home Secretary, many years anticipating trial in trial.
State of Bihar 24 the Court of Law. Even if the
charges were proved, the
maximum punishment for the
offence committed was
imprisonment for a year or two.

2. Khatri Petitions were filed under The Supreme Court in this case
Article 32 and 21 of the highlighted the importance of
v.
Constitution of India alleging Right to free Legal Aid. The
State of Bihar 25 that they were tortured by the court spotlighted that the
police when they were in their Government cannot avoid the
custody. Obligation under the
Constitution.
As a result, the question of
whether the submission of
reports to the court which
were earlier submitted to the
State Government arose.

3. Indira Gandhi The Appellant in this case won The Court in this case held that
an election over the no person can be condemned
v.
Respondent, Raj Naraian. unheard and highlighted the
Raj Naraian26 fact that Justice is Equal to each
Raj Narian challenged the
and every citizen and person.
Election of the candidate who
The court held that there was
won U/S 80 and 100 of the
absence of Legal Aid at the
24 Hussainara,supra note 1 at
25 Khatri And Others v. State Of Bihar & Ors,1981 SCC (1) 627(India).
26 Indira Gandhi v. Raj Naraian,1975 AIR 865(India).

9
 Representation of the stage when he was produced
People’sAc,1951 in the High before the Magistrate and
Court of Allahabad. Further, the hence the trial is vitiated when
appellant moved to the there was absence of Legal Aid.
Supreme Court challenging the
decision of the Lower Court.

4. Sheela Barse The College of Social Work The Court in this case highlighted
submitted a report in which it was and emphasized that there was
v. stated that excesses against women failure on the part of the state in
27 took place. The court admitted a providing Free Legal Aid to the
Union of India
writ petition which was filed by the poor and impoverished. The Court
appellant. issued some directions and some
of them include Carrying of
Interrogation of female suspects
only by the female Police Officers,
female suspects to be kept in
separate lock-ups in the prison.

ROLE OF SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS

S.No Case name Facts Judgment

1. Centre for Legal The Secretary to the Law The Supreme Court
Research and Anr. Department, State of Kerala highlighted the importance of
directed the District Collectors not Article 39A of the
v. to render any support or assistance Constitution of India and
State of Kerala28 to the organizations conducting stated that these type of
Legal Aid Camps. As a result, some organizations are free from
of the social organizations moved Government Control. The
to the Supreme Court of India Court directed the
challenging the stance of the Government to extend its
Government. support and cooperation to
these type of organizations.

2. The legal services authority

act provides for dispute
2009AIHC 3159(DB) resolution mechanism and
settlement of issues through
Lok Adalats. The Court in this
case held that disputes
cannot be alluded to private
legal aid organizations and
NGO’S.

27 Sheela Barse v. Union of India,JT 1986 136(India).

28 Centre for Legal Research and Anr. v.State of Kerala , AIR 1986 SC 1322(India)
10
 Issues Surrounding Legal Aid
There are a few regulations and restrictions put up which need to be adhered to while exercising the right to
legal aid since this right is not freely available. In the case of State NCT of Delhi v. Navjot Sandhu 29, the court
recognised that when on a non-evidential basis to a dispute keeps insisting that the amicus curiae hasn’t
performed his role effectively, the court should not solely dissolve the counsel and search for an alternative that
would please the party without proper investigation into the performance of the counsel against whom the
complaint is made. The court should also ensure that an unfavourable verdict at the trial may cause the party to
30
make a claim about his counsel but this should not entertain without proper judicial scrutiny. However, there
are several problems in extending the right to legal aid out of which one concern as highlighted by Granville
Austin is “legal aid became a statutory right in the 1990s, but the government established legal aid agency is
financially undernourished.” 31 The directives issued under Article 39 A were not willingly complied by the legal
system. However, the cause of the provision was also conquered when an amateur young lawyer was appointed
to defend the accused. As per the observations made by the court, it was held that since international charters
give effective and adequate defence, the legal aid as provided in article 39 A implied that the state appointed
counsel must be capable enough to defend the accused. 32 In a situation where the state provided counsel fails
to appear for the hearing of the case on a particular date and the case decided is not in favour of the accused,
then the Supreme Court would intervene and set aside the verdict given by the High Court and would issue
instructions for fresh hearing as it was held in Jainendra kumar v. State of Maharashtra.33 For the purpose of
rendering legal services, there is a decent budget that is set aside. However the amount is not properly utilized
which ultimately indicates that there is lack of awareness about the right to free legal service. Moreover, it can
be witnessed that some sort of bribe is paid to the policemen for recovering of documents, the court staff, the
legal aid counsel, to prison officers, etc., even when the programmes under the legal aid take up the
responsibility of defending the accused by meeting all the expenditure. This defeats the purpose of free legal aid
34
Due to the outdated infrastructure of the legal aid committee and lack of experts to supervise the legal
services finances; there are inadequate workers in the institutions and huge funds at disposal. Lack of
transparency, necessary arrangements for the disables to have access to the legal aid, the system do not

29 State of NCT Delhi v. Navjot Sandhu (2005) 11 SCC 600

30 Per G. Williams as cited in D.D.Basu at 4097
31 Ibid. 4100
32 AIR 1983 SC 378
33 Jainendrakumar v. State of Maharashtra (1990) Supp SCC 777
34 Defending the Right to Legal Aid, available at http://www.indiatogether.org/2008/apr/hrt-legalaid.htm (Last visited on
October 6th ,2018)
11
adequately respond to the applications filed under the RTI Act. 35 It is a well known fact that there are sex
workers, mentally challenged people who are often termed as criminals. Even when they are not at fault, they
are forced to rot behind the bars. This signifies the importance of legal assistance in order to protect right to life

and self respect of an individual so that they do not suffer from poverty and crime 36 Lawyers who are engaged
in free legal aid are neither adequate training is provided nor any special provision is laid out for recruiting the
lawyers from the lower sections of the society. An appraisal is not taken from the clients on the experiences of
the lawyers who are involved in the legal services authorities. Some of the other issues relating to access to legal
aid include: absence of an effective complaint mechanism, absence of record of progress of cases as the legal aid
panel lawyer deals with it entirely, improper method to scrutinize the lawyer’s performance. 37

State institutions such as legal authorities and NGOs are not proactive in nature and do not extend support to
the minority and disability institutions which are unaware of the legal services authority which engages private
lawyers instead. Though the legal camps here held, they are ineffectively organized and there is no intimation to
the audience of the programmes being held for them. These sessions are not interactive but are monotonous
and instructive. They are preceded by amateurs who amount to lack of legal services awareness. In order to
review and evaluate the functioning of Constitution, the National Commission was set up which submitted its
report on 31st March, 2002, suggesting certain recommendations pertaining to access to legal aid and justice. In
extension of Article 30 of the Constitution of India, another Article called Article 30A is inserted as follows:
“Article 30A- Access to Courts and Tribunals and Speedy Justice:

1. Everyone has a right to have any dispute that can be resolved by the application of law decided in a public
hearing before nay independent court or where appropriate, another independent and impartial tribunal or
forum.

2. The right to access to courts shall be deemed to include the right to reasonable and effective justice in all
matters before the courts, tribunals and the State shall take all reasonable steps to achieve the said object.”

In order to assist the needy by way of effective implementation of the Fundamental rights as stated in the Part
III of the Indian Constitution, legal aid plays a significant role. Later, it was even suggested that Article 39A must
be shifted to Article 30 B so that it could fall under the purview of Fundamental Rights.

35 V. Venkatesan, Dimensions of Legal Aid, THE HINDU, available at

http://www.hindu.com/fline/fl2218/stories/20050909000907500.htm (Last visited on October 6th, 2018)
36 Chapter 3, Report of the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution as cited in D.D.Basu at 4101
37 Ibid. 4208
12
 LEGAL AID IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES
Legal Aid in United Kingdom:
In the United Kingdom, Legal Aid is under the control of Legal Service Commission and is put through to
most of the Civil and Criminal Cases. Cases relating to Family Law are covered under the scheme of
Legal Aid.
In the year 1903, the Prisoners Act was enacted which provided Legal Representation for the Accused
in some cases such as Murder. The Legal Advice and Assistance Act 1949 created a contemporary
system relating to Civil Aid. The Act empowered Lawyers in Private Practice to be paid on behalf of the
citizens. In the year 2012, the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act was enacted. The
Act instigated deepest cut to the Scheme of Legal Aid. The consequence of this Act was that the Legal
Aid was not available in many areas of Law.

Legal Aid in Australia:

There is at least one Legal Aid Commission in every state of Australia and on a whole there are eight
Legal Aid Commissions. The primary function of these Commissions is to provide Legal Aid and Access
to Justice to the poor and under priviliged people. These Commissions help in providing access to
Justice by providing financial assistance, educating the citizens of the country about their
Responsibilities, remedies and rights which are legal.

Legal Aid in Italy:

Article 24 of the Constitution of Italy ensures access to Justice to individuals who are financially
incapable of engaging a Lawyer to defend their Cause. Article 24 states that “Everyone is allowed to
take legal action for the protection of his/her rights and legitimate interests. Defence is an inviolable
right at any grade of the proceedings. The means of action and defence before all courts are
guaranteed to the indigent by public Institutions. The Law determines the conditions and legal means
to remedy miscarriages of Justice” 38.Legal Aid in Italy is granted under all the stages and grades of the
trial and is granted before the Judicial Review Committees, Supreme Court, Courts of Appeal,
Surveillance Courts and Judges.

38 ITL CONST,Article 24.

13
Legal Aid in Scotland:
Legal Aid in Scotland is available in the Sheriff and the Court of Sessions, Social Security Commissioners,
Immigration Appeal Adjudicator, etc. A separate system for Legal Aid in matters relating to Criminal
Cases is in existence in Scotland. The Legal Aid is granted to the accused when he or she passes the
Justice Test and Means Test.

CONCLUSION

In order to secure and promote justice in society, the concept of Legal services is has been incorporated in the
working of the judiciary. The government is bound to grant legal assistance. The process of accessing justice
must be refined as there is lack of awareness in the country, uncertain and time consuming judicial proceedings
and the menace of corruption in the judiciary. However, it can be concluded that India has performed well in
creating mechanisms for dispensing legal aid effectively. It has progressed in the cause of legal services by
developing Lok Adalats, PIL, Nyay Adalat, etc. But just like the other inefficiencies in all the other policy
programmes, legal aid too suffers certain short comings with regards to awareness of legal aid among the
people. This problem can be solved by means of expansion of legal literacy in the country. The non state
organizations and other voluntary organizations must engage themselves in the granting free legal help to a
large group of people.

An external supervising agency must be appointed to keep a check on the working of these legal aid institutions
thereby making them more accountable. The alternative dispute resolution mechanisms must be used by the
legal help initiatives. Greater emphasis must be given promotion of legal aid by law schools. The number of legal
aid centres must be increased and clinical education by law firms should be encouraged.

14
 RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS:

Some recommendations made include-

 Proper selection criteria to appoint lawyers that includes emphasizing on field of experience,
commitment to justice, etc.
 Based on the satisfaction of extended services, the panel must be revised on a regular basis.
 A monitoring committee should be appointed which can monitor the counsel by introducing the
feedback approach system in order to keep a check on regular progress of cases undertaken by
the lawyer.
 Proper training must be given to the lawyers in the field of legal developments which might
shape their attitude towards the different section of the society.
 Introducing para legal training to understand legal processes that are to be undertaken,
handling of issues, redressal mechanism, etc must be taken care of.
 Setting up of efficient and Improved mechanisms to be set up by the state and voluntary
organisations which deal with rights of women, children, SC, ST, disabled, etc.
 Organising camps which engage in legal awareness and schemes and expanding legal literacy.
Awareness of lok adalats and encouraging the public to settle the disputes, etc. will help in
bringing justice.
 Upgrading the infrastructure at the legal service centres, updating the website, appointing
more accounting and budgeting related staff with financial experience.
 Increasing the role of NGOs and empowering them so that they can help in establishment and
saving of the contact between the accused and their families .

15
 BIBLIOGRAPHY / REFERENCES:
1. Constitution of India,1950

2. Constitution of Italy,1947

3. Code of Civil Procedure,1908

4. Code of Criminal Procedure,1973

5. The Legal Services Authority Act,1987

6. Law,Poverty and Legal Aid : Access to Criminal Justice Vol.1 (April ,2004)
Published by:Lexis Nexis Butterworths

7. 1st report of the Law Commission of India

WEBSITES AND ONLINE SOURCES:

1. www.wikepidia.org

2. www.lexisnexis.com/in/legal

3. www.manupatra.com

4. www.nja.nic.in

5. www.scconline.com

6. www.thehindu.com

7. www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

8. www.livelaw.in

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