Poor, insolvent, and destitute justice-seekers are being deprived of proper legal assistance due to poor remuneration for lawyers appointed by the National Legal Aid Services Organisation.
The service seekers were denied expected legal assistance as the lawyers showed little interest in giving proper services due to their poor remuneration and uncertainty over long-time involvement in cases, said lawyers.
Skilled and qualified lawyers rarely show interest in dealing with such cases due to the reasons.
Around 500 lawyers are currently enlisted at the NLASO鈥檚 Dhaka district office alone to deal with such cases.
NLASO lawyers said that if a lawyer takes part in a bail hearing in the NLASO case and if the accused gets bail, the lawyer is paid only Tk聽900, while a similar service for a private client can earn him between Tk聽8,000 and Tk聽10,000 depending on the merits of the case.
If a lawyer files a case like dowry or rape on behalf of NLASO, they get only Tk 800 as remuneration, but the same lawyer can earn at least Tk 10,000 if they file a case on behalf of a private client.
NLASO pays only Tk聽200 if a lawyer takes part in argument hearings before the court for two to three days in a case.
鈥楻ecently, I completed two rape cases on behalf of NLASO in a Dhaka court that were for two years, and I took part in around 25 hearings in the cases, but I got only Tk聽1,200 as remuneration for the job, said an NLASO lawyer.
Expressing frustration, another NLASO lawyer said, 鈥楴LSO is giving a very poor amount to the lawyers, but I聽 do the job only considering it as a welfare service. Otherwise, there is no reason for me to waste my time dealing with such cases.鈥�
The fees of the NLSO鈥檚 lawyers should be increased to ensure better legal aid services through skilled lawyers for insolvent people, he added.
Dhaka Bar Association鈥檚 immediate past general secretary, Khandakar Golam Kibria Jobayer, said that lawyers dealing with legal aid cases were getting very poor and nominal fees and could not work cordially in many cases.
鈥業n the past, we urged the government repeatedly to increase the fees, but there is still no visible progress.鈥�
鈥業f the fees are increased, the service quality will increase, and people will get proper services from the government,鈥� he added.
Dhaka Bar Association former general secretary Firujur Rahman Montu added that the fees that the lawyers were being paid to deal with NLASO cases not only poor but also disrespectful.
Service seekers said they were the ultimate victim.
鈥楾he legal aid lawyer is providing service in my case, but the service is not enough. I found the lawyer annoyed whenever I made a call to him to know the progress of my case,鈥� said Hasnehana Aktar, who is taking government free service from the Dhaka District Legal Aid Services office in a human trafficking case.
Asked NLASO director Mohammad Al Mamun told 抖阴精品 that it was a free service for insolvent justice seekers.
鈥榃e select lawyers who want to serve people and not give priority to money,鈥� he said.
Mamun added that the law ministry was working on the matter and that a proposal would be sent to the finance ministry to hike the remuneration of lawyers by around 30 per cent.
He also said that now a huge number of people were coming to the legal aid offices to get services due to growing public awareness and trust about the matter.
Against this backdrop, National Legal Aid Day will be celebrated today across the country in order to make people aware of the government鈥檚 provision of legal assistance to the poor, insolvent, and destitute justice-seekers.
The law ministry and NLASO offices across the country will celebrate the day by arranging a legal aid fair, a colourful procession, discussions, and blood donation camps.
The NLSAO started its journey in 2000 through the formulation of the Legal Aid Services Act 2000 by the government to provide legal assistance to insolvent people.
The organisation provides the following services: legal advice, filing and dealing with cases, expert opinion on the merit of the cases, and bearing the actual cost of cases.
A total of 10,22,958 people obtained free legal services between 2009 and March 2024 from the state-run organisation.聽
A total of 4.5 lakh people were given legal advice by NLASO, while it provided legal assistance to people in 3.84 lakh cases.
According to government data, 1.94 lakh cases were disposed of through NLASO legal support.
Apart from this, 1.12 lakh cases and disputes were settled through alternative dispute resolution (ADR) with the help of NLASO, and 2.12 lakh people benefited from it.
A total of 17,328 people were given legal information through the toll-free hotline 16430 of the NLSO, which was introduced in 2016.
A total of 1.16 lakh prisoners got legal aid services from 2012 to March 2024 through NLASO鈥檚 64 offices.
The government has already established district legal aid offices in all 64 districts across the country and appointed a senior assistant judge or assistant judge as a full-time legal aid officer in each of the offices.