NON-FCRA PROJECT: LEGAL AID SCHEME

Name of scheme: NATIONAL LEGAL SERVICES AUTHORITY (LEGAL AID CLINICS) SCHEME.

Legal Aid Clinics are intended to provide legal relief easily accessible to the indigent and backward sections of our society. They are almost on the lines of primary health centres where a doctor and other auxiliary medical staff provide basic health care to the people situated in village areas affected with poverty and social squalor. Like the doctors rendering health services to the people of the locality in the primary health centre, a lawyer manning the legal aid clinic provides legal services to the people.  The thrust is on the basic legal services like legal advice and assisting in drafting of notices, replies, applications, petitions etc.  The lawyer manning the legal aid clinic will also attempt to resolve the disputes of the people in the locality, preventing the disputes from maturing into litigation.  This provides the lawyer in the legal aid clinic an opportunity to understand the difficulties faced by people in the distant villages’ for access to justice.  Legal aid clinics have to be manned by para-legal volunteers selected by the Legal Services Authorities and lawyers with a sense of commitment, sensibility and sensitiveness to the problems of common people. Legal aid clinic is one of the thrust areas envisioned in the NALSA’s Quinquennial vision & strategy document.  NALSA plans to set up legal aid clinics in all villages.

TARGET GROUP:

The legal aid clinics established by the Legal Services Authorities shall be located at a place where the people in the locality can easily access.  A room within the office building of the local body institutions like village panchayat shall be ideal.

TYPE OF ACTIVITIES COVERED:

The objective of the Scheme is to provide legal services to the poor, marginalised and weaker sections of the society as categorised in Section 12  the Legal Services Authorities Act 1987 (Central Act), especially to the people living in far away places including the places with geographical barriers, away from the seats of justice and the offices of the legal services institutions [‘legal services institutions’ means the Taluk/Sub-divisional/Mandal Legal Services Committees, District Legal Services Authorities, High Court Legal Services Committees, State Legal Services Authorities and Supreme Court Legal Services Committee established under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987]. The aim of the Scheme is to provide inexpensive local machinery for rendering legal services of basic nature like legal advice, drafting of petitions, notices, replies, applications and other documents of legal importance and also for resolving the disputes of the local people by making the parties to see reason and thereby preventing the disputes reaching courts.  In cases where legal services of a higher level are required the matter can be referred to the legal services institutions established under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987.

The eligibility criteria for NGOs to participate in the Project are:

1. A legal entity. The NGO should be a registered body under applicable State Law. Registration should be for at least 3 years. The organization should have the organizational mandate to participate in free legal aid promotion activities.

2. A good record of bookkeeping. Basic financial records such as cash books, ledgers and audited financial statements updated annual report and exist as evident from audited statement of accounts at least for the last three years.

3. The blacklisted NGOs will not be allowed to apply for the scheme.

Project orientation agency:

The National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) has been constituted under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 to provide free Legal Services to the weaker sections of the society.

DOCUMENTS REQUIRED:

1.  Last 3 years Audit Report. (Attested By GO)

2.  Last 3 years Annual Report.

3.  Organizational Profile.

4.  Registration Certificate. (Attested by GO)

5.  Memorandum and Bylaws of Association. (Attested by GO)

6.  NGO Partnership Registration.

7.  Pan Card. (Attested by GO)

8.  Bank Account Details.

9.  If, any other registration and supporting documents.