Access to justice and rule of law are essential
to provide the foundation for growth, development and ultimately poverty
reduction. An act of justice is to overcome poverty. With law as the platform,
rights guaranteed can be enjoyed only when the law is accessed by everybody and
is the same for everybody. Our effort is to strive for it at this juncture and
we are here today to both learn and share experiences with those from across
the world. With these worlds, Dr. Ashwani Kumar,
Union Law & Justice Minister today inaugurated and delivered the key note
address at a 2-day International Conference on “Equitable Access to Justice:
Legal Aid and Legal Empowerment” here Today. The Conference is being
organized jointly by the Department of Justice, Ministry of Law and Justice and
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Following is the
text of ministers’ address:
“It gives me immense
pleasure today to participate in this International Conference on Equitable
Access to Justice: Legal Aid and Legal
Empowerment. This event is very significant for us as we have been able to
bring together countries, governments, individuals and perspectives that strive
to increase quality access to justice for marginalised
communities. This exchange of information and strategies will be very valuable
in the development of ideas to bring justice to those who need it the most as
well as to evolve strategies from a collective sharing of experiences and
challenges.
The Father of the Nation,
Mahatma Gandhi once said “The first step to achieving justice is to make
injustice visible”. These profound words have found echo in our quest for
justice over the decades since Independence.
Though beset with challenges, access to justice has been the focus area
for decades after our independence. The Indian Constitution, which is the basic
law of land, provides the framework within which the rights of people are to be
protected. It aspires for justice – social, economic and political. Article 39A
of the Constitution places upon the State an obligation to guarantee equal
justice and free legal aid to Indians. Over the years, the Constitutional
mandate has also been strengthened with several pro – poor laws and policies of
the Government which aims at the establishment of an independent and strong
judiciary as well as a vibrant civil society.
The Vision Statement and
Action Plan adopted in 2009 for strengthening the judiciary for reducing
pendency and delays has stated that “Ultimately, an efficient legal and
judicial system which delivers quick and quality justice reinforces the
confidence of people in the rule of law, facilitates investment and production
of wealth, enables better distributive justice, promotes basic human rights and
enhances accountability and democratic governance”. Significant challenges,
no doubt, remain in the form of delay in addressing injustices. But in the case
of marginalised, the problem is compounded both by
lack of awareness and lack of resources.
In recognition of the
challenges which they face, the Government has made efforts and taken new
initiatives, both administrative and legislative, besides improving access to
justice through delivery of legal aid as well as by legal empowerment of these
groups. The National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) has been constituted
under the Legal Services Authorities Act 1987, to reach out free legal services
to weaker sections of society. They have set up Lok
Adalats (People’s Courts) as a form of Alternate
Dispute Resolution mechanisms. Legal aid in India bridges the gap between
justice delivery mechanisms and the common man. There are plans afoot to scale
up these services and take them upto the village
level. Given that there are more than 600000 villages, in India, this will
indeed be a remarkable step forward. Further, under the paralegal volunteers’
scheme, paralegals are being trained to not only assist in accessing legal
support by those who require it the most but by making them aware that this is
their entitlement. These efforts are being further strengthened by state and
non-state collaborations which combine the strengths available to address the
challenge of access to justice.
For the first time in our
planning process, the Planning Commission of India had constituted a Working
Group on the Department of Justice with the objective of making recommendations
to the 12th five year plan. Amongst the suggestions made by the
Working Group are strengthening of Alternate Dispute Resolution system to
benefit the marginalised and strengthen the capacity
of the Legal Service Authorities. The Thirteenth
Finance Commission of India has made an award of Rs.
5000 crores (one billion US Dollars) for carrying out
judicial reforms, in the five years from 2012 - 2015. Funds have also been
allocated to the State Governments for setting up alternate dispute resolution
mechanisms, morning and evening and special courts, infrastructure development
and most importantly, for training of both the judges and prosecutors. An
innovative eCourts scheme with an allocation of Rs. 935 crore (US $ 180 million)
has been undertaken for ICT enablement of all the courts in the country. The
completion of the project will improve citizen centric services and will help
improve case management systems in courts. Additionally, National Mission for
Justice Delivery and Legal Reform has also been constituted in 2011 with the
objectives of reducing pendency and increasing accountability through
structural changes and setting performance standards. During this year, a Model
Courts project has been initiated to set up Courts of Tomorrow that would have
the requisite infrastructure and which would be with procedures and process
which help to deliver quicker justice. The results of the experiment would be
utilized to replicate it across the country. Palpably, the project will witness
convergence of several schemes which are interlinked, such as police and
prisons schemes as well as schemes that impact women, children and other
vulnerable groups.
Globally, the measures which we are undertaking
in India are in harmony with the aspirations of the democratic world that
strives for establishing principles of liberty, equality and fraternity. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)
and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) set out
specific obligations of the State to provide state funded counsel for indigent
people. The United Nations Principles on
Access to Justice in Criminal Justice System, The Africa Commission on Human
and Peoples’ Rights, The Resolution on the Right to a Fair Trial and Legal
Assistance in Africa and the Lilongwe Declaration on Accessing Legal Aid in the
Criminal Justice System, amongst others, are amongst the regional instruments
which support legal aid delivery. Legal aid thrives in countries where
governments fulfill these obligations. However, gaps remain, where use of
resources is not maximized, trained lawyers are scarce and geographical
coverage is patchy. Efforts in India are being made on improving legal
empowerment. This ranges from law clinics run through law universities, paralegal
programmes, legal awareness programmes and lawyers training programme.
These efforts are significant in the delivery of justice and the empowerment of
individuals to access rights deemed to them by the Constitution.
The Access to Justice
project implemented by the Department of Justice in
collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme
is an example of the efforts being made for creating sustainable and positive
change across the States. With a focus on those who are vulnerable and those
that live at the periphery of society, the project has made an impact and
yielded inspirational results by empowering women and children, scheduled
tribes, scheduled castes and the poor by arming them with information on their
rights and by demystifying justice delivery systems. Statistical details of the
achievements, I am told, are impressive.
As we are gearing up
for the next phase of the Access to Justice Project which will be modeled on
the experience of the first phase, this conference, I am sure, will go a long
way in providing further innovative ideas and thoughts. We will hear about the
best practices elsewhere in the world in the next two days. I am told that the
focus of the next phase of the project will be on acceleration of judicial reforms
within the larger framework of making governance more inclusive, accountable
and decentralized. This will require greater engagement with Legal Service
Authorities and other key delivery institutions. This will also require greater
convergence with other Ministries and institutions to improve justice delivery
for the poor, particularly women. The Conference today is in a way an important
milestone assigned under the project and I expect the recommendations and ideas
emerging from here, will be a valuable input for the
next phase of the project.
In conclusion, let me say that there is a larger
vision to having an event like this. In today’s world, it is accepted that
access to justice and rule of law are essential to provide the foundation for
growth, development and ultimately poverty reduction. An act of justice is to
overcome poverty. With law as the platform, rights guaranteed can be enjoyed
only when the law is accessed by everybody and is the same for everybody. Our
effort is to strive for it at this juncture and we are here today to both learn
and share experiences with those from across the world.
On that note, I would like to conclude the
address and wish the very best to the Conference.”
It is noteworthy that The Department of Justice is implementing a Project
on “Access to Justice for Marginalized People” (A2J) in collaboration with the
UNDP. This International Conference is to mark the completion of the Project.
As part of the Project, international best practices on legal empowerment and
legal aid have been studied, including through field visits to South Africa,
Malawi, Indonesia and Sierra Leone. The Conference is also expected witness discussions on best
practices from these and other countries by international experts in order to
draw lessons for implementing similar programmes in India in the next phase of
the project beginning in 2013.
The A2J Project has
witnessed the roll out of pilot programmes on legal awareness, capacity
building of intermediaries including lawyers and paralegals, and has assisted
vulnerable groups in accessing legal services throughout the 7 Project States
of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan and Uttar
Pradesh. The project has reached out to 20 lakh
people through legal literacy programmes. 6,000 paralegals and 300
lawyers have been trained to reach out to the marginalized people to make them
aware of their rights and entitlements, and assist them with legal aid.
India has constituted
statutory authorities to provide free legal services to the poor and
marginalized sections of the society. The National Legal Services Authority
(NALSA) together with State Legal Services Authorities (SLSA) are mandated to
provide free legal services to the weaker sections of the society including
legal advice, legal counseling, legal aid for filing
and/or arguing matters in the courts, court fees etc. The A2J Project works
closely with the National and State Legal Services Authorities and the judicial
academies with a view to develop the capacity of service delivery institutions
for serving the people better. The Conference will bring together members of
NALSA and Executive Chairpersons and Member Secretaries of all State Legal
Services Authorities across the country.
The opening
session began with the addresses of Ms. Lise
Grande, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative India, Mr.
Marcus Brand, Human Rights and Access to Justice Advisor, UNDP Asia Pacific Regional Centre and Mr. D.K. Sikri,
Secretary, Department of Justice (DoJ), M/o Law &
Justice.
a The Conference is being attended by 200 participants including 40 participants
from 21 countries. Among them are Chief Justice of India, Justice
Altamas Kabir, chief justices from the state high courts, jurists
of international repute and heads of national legal aid agencies
.
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