Legal Aid Commission (LAC), in collaboration with Legal Resources Centre (LRC) has called on the public, particularly the poor and vulnerable, to access the services of the LAC when faced with legal challenges.
According to the Upper East Regional Director of Legal Aid Commission, Lawyer Richard Adazabra, the Commission exists to help the poor and marginalized have access to justice since the latter are financially disadvantaged with regard to the hiring of the services of legal practitioners.
He made this call at a Town Hall Meeting held in Bolgatanga, the Upper East Regional capital. The meeting was to increase public knowledge on the law and Ghana’s Case Tracking System (CTS).
“May I say that access to legal services is very difficult because you cannot pay. In case of injustice, you can count on us. We exist to make sure that people who need justice get access to it; whatever the outcome might be, patronise the Legal Aid Commission’s services.” he explained.
Speaking at the same meeting, Lawyer Clarke Noyoru, of the Legal Resources Centre corroborated the LAC director’s call, urging participants to make use the services of the LAC stressing that financial inadequacy should not be an excuse to be denied legal services.
“If you want to see a lawyer, you don’t just walk into my chamber and say you want to see a lawyer. The more you will spend time with me the more I will charge you to pay for the consultation. If you spend let’s say 1 hour you will pay GHC 500, if you spend 1 hour 2 minutes that’s compared to 2 hours let’s say GHC 1000. In this world, there is no lawyer you will go to him and he will say you don’t have a case; they will charge you irrespective of whether you have a case or not. Per the narration that I have given, you see that legal services are expensive. So why do have to waste our looking for lawyers when there are platforms that can do these things for us? You may afford the services of a lawyer but there are countless people out there who are poor and cannot,” he stated.
Speaking at the same meeting, a beneficiary of the Legal Aid Commission, Florence Ayamga applauded the commission and urged the general public to embrace the idea of patronizing the commission’s services. She said had her life would have been miserable if Legal Aid Commission had not come to her rescue.
Ghana’s Legal Aid Commission was created in 1997 to ensure that all citizens have equal access to justice and equal treatment before the law. Supported by the government of Ghana, its goal is to achieve a just and equitable society by providing nationwide equality legal aid.
Legal Aid acts as a public defender in cases where Ghana’s socially and financially disadvantaged citizens may require legal services. It also works to increase information of the general public to increase their understanding of the law and the legal services they can receive.
The Legal Aid Commission is fundamental to the fight against corruption, where legal aid can be offered to persons wishing to pursue cases of corruption. It also supports the training of lawyers as well as public education on anti-corruption efforts.
The Legal Aid Commission in collaboration with the Legal Resource Centre convened the meeting as part of activities to mark the legal aid week celebration, where participants were drawn from all groups of people in society including political party representatives, market women, farmers, lawyers, teachers, traditional rulers among others.
Source: https://www.a1radioonline.com/47119/public-urged-to-seek-services-of-lac-during-disagreements/index.html
