Access to justice can be defined as “the ability of people to seek and obtain a remedy through formal or informal institutions of justice, in conformity with human right standards” (Wojkowska, 2006). The access is important for various reasons like giving justice to the poor and disadvantaged (UNDP, 2004). Access to justice is a fundamental right. Having access to justice means everyone should be able to use the legal system when they need to. In countries where many people are poor and there are big gaps between rich and poor, it’s even more important to have good legal help available.
Legal aid plays a crucial role in society by ensuring that everyone has access to justice, regardless of their financial situation. It helps level the playing field, ensures fair representation, and upholds the principles of equality and the rule of law. Legal aid also promotes social justice, protects individual rights, and prevents injustice and abuse of power. It’s essential for maintaining a fair and equitable legal system and fostering trust in the justice system. The right to legal aid is a basic one under Article 4 (due process) and Article 10-A (right to fair trial) of the Constitution of Pakistan.
The World Justice Project report, 2023, on the Rule of Law Index ranked Pakistan’s criminal justice system as being at 99 out of 142 countries, above Bangladesh (123) but below India (93), Sri Lanka (80) and clearly way below most of the 142 countries surveyed. In the civil justice system, the same report ranked Pakistan even worse (129/142), placing it above Bangladesh (133), but below Sri Lanka (109) and India (111). Pakistan ranks poorly on accessibility and affordability, lagging behind most countries, highlighting a critical need to improve access to justice.
According to the World Bank, the estimated poverty rate was 37.2 percent in 2023 in Pakistan. Legal aid thus assumes enormous importance in the context of access to justice where deviance and discrimination are deeply rooted in the socio-political milieu. Despite nearly 77 years of independence, Pakistan’s legal aid system remains in a state of crisis. The Constitution explicitly guarantees the right to affordable and efficient justice, free from discrimination, yet the State has failed to effectively implement this fundamental right. The legal aid system continues to struggle, leaving many citizens without access to justice.
In Pakistan, a large section of the population is unable to access the formal legal system mainly for want of financial resources and general lack of awareness of the law and legal rights. Although the State recognizes the need and importance of legal aid to ensure access to justice for the needy by incorporating provisions of legal assistance in some laws and rules, a lot more needs to be done. A review of the current legal aid system shows that there is no comprehensive and uniform legal framework for legal aid which means that accessing the formal legal system is still an unaffordable luxury for the majority of people in Pakistan.
A comparative analysis of the legal aid systems in Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka reveals that, despite facing similar challenges to Pakistan, these countries have successfully established organized structures for legal assistance. For example, Bangladesh has made significant strides in this regard, with the Supreme Court Legal Aid Office being established in 2015 to provide legal aid in both civil and criminal cases. The country’s legal aid system is structured under the supervision of the Supreme Court, with a four-tiered approach comprising; a)Supreme Court legal aid b) District legal aid committees c) Upazila (sub-division) legal aid committees d) Union council legal aid committees.
The National Legal Aid Services Authorities Act, 1987, of India provides for an organized structure of legal aid and services. The chief justice of the Supreme Court of India is the patron-in-chief of NALSA and a retired judge of the Supreme Court works its executive director. Likewise, there are state, district and sub-divisional legal aid service authorities on a similar pattern. In Sri Lanka, The Legal Aid Act, 1978, created the Legal Aid Commission consisting of nine members, three nominated by the justice ministry and six by the bar council of Sri Lanka. The LAC provides legal aid services through regional, district committees and clinics, and also works to promote legal awareness, training and reforms.
Pakistan’s legal aid structures face significant challenges. The District Legal Empowerment Committees (DLECs), established in 2011 by the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan (LJCP) to provide district-level legal aid, suffer from a lack of ownership and support from high courts and district judiciary. Additionally, effective monitoring, evaluation, and performance management mechanisms are absent.
Furthermore, the disbursement rate of legal aid funds under DLECs is alarmingly low, with a substantial portion of allocated funds remaining unutilized across regions – 46 percent in Punjab, 40 percent in Sindh, 55 percent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 60 percent in Baluchistan, and 52 percent in Islamabad. The lack of transparency is further evident in the absence of updated data on DLECs from all provinces, with information only available up to 2020 on the LJCP website. This opacity extends to the underutilization of funds allocated for DLECs annually, resulting in a disappointingly low rate of legal aid disbursement. Moreover, DLECs primarily focus on providing legal aid to under-trial prisoners, despite no rule limiting their scope to this category.
The Pakistan Bar Council, under the Free Legal Aid Rules 1999, also has the mandate to provide legal aid and create awareness about legal rights. Under these rules, the Pakistan Bar Council manages central, provincial and district free legal aid committees. However, these committees lack the capacity and support to perform the roles assigned to them.
The Punjab Legal Aid Agency, established in 2019 under the Punjab Legal Aid Act 2018, aims to provide legal assistance to financially disadvantaged individuals, particularly women involved in family disputes. However, the agency has yet to be fully operationalized as intended. In a recent ruling on Writ Petition No. 126306 of 2017, the full bench of the Lahore High Court directed the Government of Punjab to establish the agency within three months. Despite the court’s order, announced on February 13, 2024, the Government of Punjab has failed to take any action, demonstrating a lack of priority in providing effective legal aid to the public.
Different political, legal and social theorists defined justice differently. For Plato, justice was class division and functional specialization. Kant defined justice as a virtue through which respect of others’ freedom, autonomy and dignity could be ensured. J.S Mill sought justice in qualitative utilitarianism to foster human liberty.
It is crucial that the relevant authorities recognize their responsibility to provide effective legal aid to the masses and promptly implement the directives of the honorable Lahore High Court. To achieve this, the Ministry of Law, Justice & Human Rights must take the lead in engaging not only provincial law ministries and the Pakistan Bar Council but also the superior judiciary and civil society to reform the legal aid system and ensure access to justice for all.
As a first step, there is a need for a national legal aid authority with clear institutional structures at the Centre and the provinces down to the level of each sub-division, to ultimately each union council. The District Legal Empowerment Committees (DLEC) rules need to be re-examined to improve engagement, collaboration and performance management of the DLECs in coordination with the LJCP and the respective high courts. This will help in building ownership of the DLECs especially at the provincial level with the high courts and down to the district courts. The most recent development in this context involves amendments to the District Legal Empowerment Committees Rules of 2011. This amendment signifies a significant change: an increase in the professional fee of legal practitioners from Rs 20,000 to Rs 40,000, as well as a revision of the eligibility criteria for legal practitioners from five years to three years of standing at the bar.
The Pakistan Bar Council Free Legal Aid Rules, 1999, need to be assessed with the goal of improving their structure, capacity, and support. This includes establishing a dedicated framework for effective legal aid arrangements, providing training and continuing legal education, raising awareness, ensuring sustainable funding streams, and implementing effective oversight mechanisms.
Civil society must prioritize legal aid to complement public sector initiatives. The capacity of organizations that provide legal aid services needs to be enhanced in terms of scale, scope and quality. Proper coordination mechanisms need to be developed between Bar Associations, the Bench and Civil Society Organizations.
Clinical Legal Education programs, encompassing both ‘street law’ and ‘legal clinic’ models, offered in collaboration with local or nearby law colleges, can complement and enhance legal aid services and public awareness initiatives. By integrating these programs, law students can gain practical experience while providing valuable legal assistance to the community, thereby strengthening the overall impact of legal aid services and public awareness efforts.
Legal aid services should be driven by the needs of poor and disadvantaged people, not limited by what lawyers are willing to offer, to effectively address the community’s most pressing legal issues. Conducting assessments can help identify the most cost-effective strategies for expanding legal aid services to reach vulnerable populations, ensuring that resources are allocated efficiently and effectively to maximize impact. A comprehensive information system should be established, featuring efficient data collection, robust IT support, and a freely accessible interactive website, ensuring seamless information sharing and dissemination.
A well-functioning legal aid system is essential for enhancing access to justice for vulnerable segments and mitigating legal exclusion. Moreover, it plays a vital role in fostering trust among millions of deserving individuals towards the justice system and, more broadly, the country’s political establishment. By providing effective legal support and representation, a robust legal aid system can help bridge the gap between marginalized communities and the justice sector, promoting greater inclusivity and faith in the rule of law.
