Government to review Legal Aid Scheme – Attorney General
Mr Martin Amidu, Attorney General and Minister of Justice on Monday pledged government’s commitment to review the Legal Aid Scheme Act, to properly position it to meet the needs of the indigent and vulnerable in society.
He said government had subsequently included the policy in its Medium Term Development Framework: “Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda.”
Mr Amidu made the pledge in an address read on his behalf by Mrs Ama Gaisie, Solicitor General at the maiden launch of the Legal Aid Week, scheduled for October 3- October 9, in Accra.
The celebration on the theme: “Empowering the Vulnerable in Society through Legal Aid,” is to create awareness about their activities and its role in promoting justice delivery in Ghana.
Mr Amidu commended the Scheme for its invaluable service to the poor who otherwise would have been denied access to justice.
“I am encouraged by the increasing number of people accessing services of the scheme. It handled (more than) 7,000 cases in 2010,” he added.
Mr Amidu pointed out that in spite of the tremendous contribution the scheme is making to promote justice in the society a considerable number of people are still unaware of its existence and role.
He expressed the hope that with the institution of the week-long celebration, its activities would be known to most of the poor in the society and consequently promote access to justice and human rights for the poor.
“I therefore wish to commend the scheme for this innovation and to encourage the (staff) to ensure that it becomes an annual affair,” he added.
Mr Amidu appealed to legal practitioners to render services to the indigent and vulnerable in the society as part of their duty of defending the poor and promoting justice in the society.
“Those of us in the legal fraternity have a binding duty of ensuring that all segments of our society have access to justice irrespective of their situation in life,” he said.
Mr Alhassan Yahaya Seini, Director of Legal Aid Scheme appealed to lawyers and law students to render legal services to the poor and the vulnerable in the society.
He said they should accept rendering legal aid to the poor and vulnerable as their social responsibility.
Mr Seini called for financial assistance to the scheme with sponsorship for programmes, training and capacity building of lawyers to improve its human resource base.
Source: GNA