Ravi Shankar Prasad calls for Expediting Judicial Reforms
Minister
of Law & Justice and Electronics & IT, Sh. Ravi Shankar Prasad today
appealed to all those involved in the delivery of justice to join hands in
improving the system to ensure that assistance is available to every citizen
irrespective of his socio-economic position. He said this after the launch of
three key legal aid and empowerment initiatives of the Department of Justice –
including ‘Pro bono legal services’, ‘Tele law service’ and ‘Nyaya
Mitra scheme’. The Minister also mentioned that the country’s legal
system would be digitally transformed, as digital inclusion holds the key to
the country’s march towards Digital India.
The
Minister emphasized the need for increased opportunities of legal aid and
awareness for people, especially the marginalised sections of the society. He
said that the three initiatives launched today were aimed at fulfilling the
department’s core mandate of enhancing ‘access to justice’ for the poor
and vulnerable communities, including making accessible quality and effective
legal aid for them. He acknowledged and appreciated the initiatives undertaken,
over the last two decades, to safeguard and deliver this right to citizens,
first, by the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) and subsequently by the
Department of Justice – both of whom have the shared mandate of delivering
adequate and efficient legal aid to the marginalised and vulnerable sections. The
Minister also underscored that the initiatives launched by the department here
are to supplement the efforts of NALSA and not to overlap the activities
undertaken by the legal services authorities.
Pro bono legal
Services
The
‘Pro bono legal services’ initiative is a web based platform, through
which interested lawyers can register themselves to volunteer pro bono services
for the underprivileged litigants, who are unable to afford it. The Department
of Justice has launched the online application for this initiative on its
website doj.gov.in. Through this online
portal, litigants from marginalised communities (including members of scheduled
castes and scheduled tribes, women, children, senior citizens, persons with low
income and persons with disabilities) can also apply for legal aid and advice
from the pro bono lawyers.
The
Minister described this effort as an ‘earnest step’ towards fulfilling the
mandate of quality legal aid for all. He noted that many from the legal
fraternity were already volunteering legal support for the underprivileged
clients, in an individual capacity. However, he stressed that the time has come
to promote the concept of pro bono legal aid in an institutionalized manner and
ensure that those who volunteer their valuable time and service towards this
public service are duly recognized.
The
Minister called upon all lawyers from across the country to wholeheartedly
support this initiative and help in fulfilling the constitutional mandate of
legal aid for all.
Tele Law:
Mainstreaming Legal Aid through Common Service Centre
Through
the second initiative, launched by the Minister, the Department of Justice and
NALSA are partnering with CSC- E- Governance Service Limited for mainstreaming
legal aid to the marginalized communities through the Common Service Centers
(CSCs). This initiative, called ‘Tele Law’, is aimed at facilitating
delivery of legal advice through an expert panel of lawyers – stationed at the
State Legal Services Authorities (SLSA). The project would connect lawyers with
clients through video conferencing facilities at CSCs, operated by para legal
volunteers. For this purpose, this initiative would also play a pivotal role in
empowering 1000 women para legal volunteers.
The
Minister said that using CSCs for mainstreaming legal aid services for the
marginalized at the panchayat levels would ensure that legal aid reaches
populations which remained untouched due to geographical challenges and/or lack
of infrastructure. He also described the use of CSCs as change agents, enablers
of community participation and capacity building in rural settings as
commendable.
The
project would be launched across 1800 panchayats in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, North
Eastern States and Jammu & Kashmir.
District
Facilitation Centre to reduce pendency: Engagement of Nyaya Mitra
The
Minister also discussed the issue of heavy pendency of cases in courts across
the country. He noted that at present, more than 2.4 crore cases are pending in
the district and lower judiciary, of which nearly 10% are more than 10 years
old. He called for collective action and efforts in remedying this situation.
In this context, the Minister also inaugurated the Nyaya Mitra
scheme, which is aimed at reducing pendency of cases across selected districts,
with special focus on those pending for more than 10 years.
Functionalized
through a retired judicial or executive officer (with legal experience)
designated as the ‘Nyaya Mitra’, the project would be operated out of District
Facilitation Centres, housed in CSCs. Nyaya Mitra’s responsibilities would
include among others assistance to litigants who are suffering due to delay in
investigations or trial, by actively identifying such cases through the
National Judicial Data Grid, providing legal advice and connecting litigants to
DLSA, CSC Tele Law, other government agencies and civil society organisations.
He/she shall also refer the marginalized applicants to Lok Adalats for dispute
resolution and render assistance towards prison reforms within the district, in
coordination with the district judiciary and other stakeholders.
This
initiative would be launched in 227 districts including 27 districts from North
East and Jammu & Kashmir and 200 districts from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar,
Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Odisha, Gujarat, West Bengal etc. and would be operated
out of CSCs.
The
Minister stated that the department was committed to fulfilling its mandate of
securing access to justice through these initiatives and called for support and
action for all stakeholders in making them a success.
*********
(Release ID :161179)
Source: Press Information Bureau (PIB)
1 comment:
Thanks for sharing Nice Article
Legal Services in Hyderabad
Have you Made your will during these crisis times
Post a Comment