Discuss the State Legal Service authority and the Legal Service Authority Act

Discuss the State Legal Service authority and the Legal Service Authority Act.


Ø Analysis of the Legal Services Authority Act, 1987

·        Types of services under Legal Services Authority Act

The Act provides many types of legal services to the general public:

1.     Free Legal Awareness

This Act is primarily intended for the public to make them aware of laws and schemes issued by public authorities. The Legal Service Authority teaches some portions of the rules of law to the individuals. Legal camps and legal aid centres are organized by authorities so that the general public can seek advice from the legal aid centres located near their homes or places of work. The legal guides and centres can help address the grievances of ordinary people as well.

2.   Free Legal Aid Counsel

A person who wants to defend or file a case in a court of law but does not have the means to hire an advocate can seek the assistance of a free legal aid attorney. The Act states that free legal aid counsel is available, and the Council is responsible for assisting needy individuals to obtain justice. By adopting and establishing this philosophy, the Indian Courts should be freed from the burden of adjudicating the cases.

A Lok Adalat was held for the first time in Gujarat on 14th March 1982 and succeeded in resolving many disputes pertaining to labour disputes, family disputes, and bank recoveries. Lok Adalats are the primary method by which the legal services authorities decide disputes. Our Indian courts have a huge backlog of cases, and it takes an extremely long time to resolve disputes under judicial supervision.

Lok Adalat was, thus, seen as an Alternative Dispute Redressal (ADR) mechanism that was reliable, efficient, and friendly in resolving disputes. Lok Adalats can be constituted by the legal services authorities at such spans and locations to exercise the authority of their jurisdiction in such areas as they think fit. There is a mix of lawyers and non-lawyers on the Lok Adalat bench in order for it to possess a superior understanding of the dispute and convince both parties to reach a mutually agreeable compromise.    

3.   Objectives of Legal Services Authority Act

Under Article 39A of the Constitution of India, free legal aid and equal justice are provided to all citizens by appropriate legislation, schemes or other means to ensure that no citizen is denied access to justice on the basis of economic disadvantage or in any other way. The Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 was enacted as a consequence of this constitutional provision with the primary objective of providing free and competent legal services to the weaker sections of society in the country.

4.   Structural Organization under Legal Services Authority Act

As a result of the Legal Services Act, a National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) was established as the apex body for regulating the legal aid provisions. State Legal Services Authority (SALSA) handles the implementation of NALSA’s powers at the state level, which delegates further to a number of organizations. NALSA is considered to be an alliance between the State, Social Action Groups, individuals, and non-profit organizations that have their presence from the grassroots level to the state level.

5.    NALSA

In response to Section 4 of the Act, NALSA has been established to provide free legal aid to all citizens of the country. The body has been established by the government. It is headed by the Chief Justice of India, patron-in-chief. The executive chairman of the organisation is a retired or serving judge of the Supreme Court of India. The nominees are selected by the president after consultation with the Chief Justice of India. An advisory committee referred to as the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee is formed by the central authority.  A significant objective of the NALSA is to ensure that justice is equally distributed among citizens, regardless of economic or other factors. The main responsibilities of NALSA are the following:

•       Through legal aid camps, the organization promotes legal aid in slums, rural and labour colonies, as well as disadvantaged areas. It plays an important role in providing education about the rights and needs of the people who live in such areas. Lok Adalats are also formed by the authority to settle disputes between these people.

•       Amongst other things, it is primarily concerned with providing legal services through clinics in law colleges, universities, etc.

•       Arbitration, mediation, and conciliation are all methods that are used by these organizations to settle disputes.

•       The organization provides grant aid to institutions that provide social services at the grassroots level to marginalized communities from various parts of the country.

•       Research activities are also conducted to improve legal services for the poor.

•       Ensures that citizens commit to the fundamental duties they have been entrusted with.

•       As part of the proper implementation of the schemes and programs, they tend to evaluate the effectiveness of the actions taken for the legal aid problems at specific intervals so that the correct functions are being performed.

•       Through the policy and scheme they laid down, the body ensures that the legal services could be made available to the general public. Through these schemes, the body is able to provide the most economical and effective legal services

•       Financial matters are handled by this body, and the funds allocated by it are allocated to respective district and state legal services authorities.

In NALSA v. Union of India (2014) the National Legal Services Authority of India (NALSA) filed this case to recognize those who are outside the binary gender distinction, including individuals who identify as “third gender”. There was a question that the Court had to address regarding the recognition of people who do not fit into the male/female binary as “third gender” individuals. During the discussion, the panel deliberated whether ignoring non-binary gender identities constitutes an infringement of Indian Constitutional rights. For developing its judgment, the panel referred to an “Expert Committee on Transgender Issues” established under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

There is no doubt that this was a landmark decision because the Supreme Court of India recognised the identity of ‘third gender’ and transgender persons for the first time. In its judgment, the Court recognized that third-gender individuals had fundamental rights under the Constitution and the International Covenant. As a result, the government of the state was directed to develop mechanisms for the realization of the rights of “third gender”/transgender individuals.

According to the Court, the concept of ‘dignity’ under Article 21 of the Constitution includes all forms of self-expression, which permits a person to live a dignified life. The rights to dignity under Article 21 include the right to gender identity.

The Apex Court stated that Article 14 and Article 19 (1) (a) were framed in gender-neutral terms, and thus, the right to equality and freedom of expression would extend to transgender persons also. Transgender persons all over society are subject to “extreme discrimination” which is a violation of their right to equality, which is illustrated by the fact that they are treated as second-class citizens. Furthermore, under the freedom of expression, it was indicated by the Court that the right to express one’s gender was included by dressing, speaking, acting, or acting in a manner consistent with their gender identity.

Thus, Articles 14, 15, 16, 19 (1) (a) and 21 of the Constitution confer fundamental rights on transgender individuals. The Court also relied on the Yogyakarta Principles and core international human rights treaties while recognizing the human rights of transgender people. To reduce the stigma against transgender communities, public awareness programs were held to be necessary by the Court.

Ø Constitution of State Legal Services Authority.

Constitution of State Legal Services Authority.

(1) Every State Government shall constitute a body to be called the Legal Services Authority for the State to exercise the powers and perform the functions conferred on, or assigned to, a State Authority under this Act.

(2) A State Authority shall consist of:

•       the Chief Justice of the High Court who shall be the Patron-in-Chief;

•       a serving or retired Judge of the High Court, to be nominated by the Governor, in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court, who shall be the Executive Chairman; and

•       Such number of other members, possessing such experience and qualifications as may be prescribed by the State Government, to be nominated by that Government in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court.

(3) The State Government shall, in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court, appoint a person belonging to the State Higher Judicial Service, not lower in rank than that of a District Judge, as the Member-Secretary of the State Authority, to exercise such powers and perform such duties under the Executive Chairman of the State Authority as may be prescribed by that Government or as may be assigned to him by the Executive Chairman of that Authority.

Provided that a person functioning as Secretary of a State Legal Aid and Advice Board immediately before the date of constitution of the State Authority may be appointed as Member-Secretary of that Authority, even if he is not qualified to be appointed as such under this sub-section, for a period not exceeding five years.

(4) The terms of office and other conditions relating thereto, of members and the Member-Secretary of the State Authority shall be such as may be prescribed by the State Government in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court.

(5) The State Authority may appoint such number of officers and other employees as may be prescribed by the State Government, in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court, for the efficient discharge of its functions under this Act.

(6) The officers and other employees of the State Authority shall be entitled to such salary and allowances and shall be subject to such other conditions of service as may be prescribed by the State Government in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court.

(7) The administrative expenses of the State Authority, including the salaries, allowances and pensions payable to the Member-Secretary, officers and other employees of the State Authority shall be defrayed out of the Consolidated Fund of the State.

(8) All orders and decisions of the State Authority shall be authenticated by the Member-Secretary or any other officer of the State Authority duly authorized by the Executive Chairman of the State Authority.

(9) No act or proceeding of a State Authority shall be invalid merely on the ground of the existence of any vacancy in, or any defect in the constitution of, the State Authority.

 

References:

1. Characteristics of Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) and Advantages and Disadvantages of Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR)

 2. Legal Education in India: Challenges, Innovations, and a Vision

3. Sources of Law

4. Salient features of Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.

5. Disscuss the Differences between Arbitration and Conciliation

6. What type of Matter Cannot be subject to ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution)

7. Discuss the historical background and objectives of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996

8. What is an Interim Measure by Court Under Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996

9. Differences between Arbitration and Mediation

10. Difference between Mediation and Conciliation

11. Difference between Arbitration and Conciliation

12. Difference between Arbitration and Negotiation

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Res Gestae under Section 6 of Indian Evidence Act, 1872

  Ø Res Gestae under Section 6 of Indian Evidence Act, 1872 “Walking on the edges of the footpath, you hear a screeching voice of a woman, turn to the left and exclaim in shock “oh my god, someone help” when you witness her being robbed off by a gang of four men. Will your statement be admissible in the eyes of law?” Facts, not a part of the main issue, which are supplementary and is so connected to the issue that it forms part of the same transaction is called Res Gestae. These facts ought to be contemporaneous in nature so as to be admissible by the court under Section 6 of the Indian Evidence Act . In layman’s terms, the facts which surround the fact in issue and have happened immediately before or after the ‘act’ has been done are admissible under this doctrine. If any of the facts are remotely connected to the main act, they wouldn’t be admissible in a court of law. Ø Definition of Res Gestae Res Gestae has been derived from Latin words meaning ‘’things done’’. It ...
Read more

Identification Parade

                Identification Parade     Ø What is Test Identification Parade A test identification parade, is a procedure commonly used in criminal cases to identify the accused in a court of law. Witnesses play a crucial role in this process as it’s their responsibility to recognize the accused among a group of individuals presented in the parade. The main purpose of this procedure is to assess whether the witness can accurately identify the accused from a group of people. This helps establish the witness’s reliability in identifying an unknown person in relation to the context of the crime. Law enforcement frequently employs this method to verify the witness’s credibility, especially in cases where the witness has never encountered the accused except at the crime scene. Ø Purpose of Test Identification Parade In the case of Ramkishan vs Bombay State [AIR 1955 SC 104], it was established that, during the investigation o...
Read more

What type of Matter Cannot be subject to ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution)

Ø Disputes that cannot be resolved through Arbitration The Arbitral Tribunal may be a private forum exclusively chosen by the parties to the dispute to urge their civil or commercial disputes to get adjudicated. Every civil and commercial dispute can be adjudicated by arbitration unless the jurisdiction of the Arbitral Tribunal is barred from doing so. The Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 does not explicitly exclude the category of civil or commercial disputes from arbitrability.  Section 8 of the Act casts an obligation on the Judicial Authority to ask for arbitration in terms of the Arbitration Agreement. The Act doesn't exclude the category of disputes which are to be treated as non-arbitrable. However, the courts in certain disputes refuse to refer the parties to arbitration under Section 8 of the Act. Under Indian law, the kinds of disputes that can't be resolved by arbitration include: •        Criminal offences. •   ...
Read more