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34,000 access Legal Aid
... new offices open in rural districts
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| By
BIBI KHAN |
IN
every nook and cranny throughout Trinidad and Tobago, citizens are
able to access legal aid services and it will be at minimal costs,
at most times free.
And its success rate is quite high said Senior Counsel Gilbert Peterson
and Director of Legal Aid and Advisory Authority.
He was speaking at the 30th anniversary celebration of the Legal
Aid and Advisory Authority’s and the launching of its “Here
to Help” campaign held at the MovieTowne Entertainment and
Shopping Complex, Invaders Bay in Port of Spain.
The legal aid services, he said have been vastly extended as it
has opened other headquarters outside of the Port of Spain area.
Offices, he said would soon be opened in Tunapuna and Princes Town.
The amount of people applying for legal aid services has greatly
increased with applicants in Port of Spain numbering 26,039 San
Fernando with 7,043 cases and Couva with 742 cases last year.
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Attorney-at-Law
and Board
Member of the Legal Aid
and Advisory Authority
ANAN SINGH says many
people in the community
are not aware of the
Legal Aid services.
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There are offices in Sangre Grande, Arima, Debe/Penal, Siparia,
Chaguanas and Tobago.
Peterson said there were always attorneys visiting the Golden Grove
Prison, Arouca, who were recruited by inmates.
“The demand is growing and we are improving the quality of
service,” he remarked.
Peterson said there was a popular belief among people that a lawyer
might do a better job if hired privately.
“I cannot subscribe to that. Once a lawyer joins the Legal
Aid, he is under oath to provide his best service,” he said.
He called the implementation of the “Here to Help” campaign
“historical”.
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The campaign is geared towards the average civilian with
its theme as “Involving you in the Justice System”.
There would be a number of seminars throughout the country
and its topics would include: becoming a guardian, arranging
a divorce and maintenance, handling property disputes, identifying
the rights of the elderly, empowering the Differently-abled
and so on.
He revealed there would be an effort to provide legal advice
on weekends, which was called Duty Council Scheme.
“It is just like what we see on television in the
public defender system. If someone were detained after hours
an attorney would be available to help.
“Under the Duty Council Scheme the person’s
rights would be protected,” he announced.
Speaking after the launching of the campaign, Peterson told
TnT Mirror that if an attorney from Legal Aid did not show
up to the court to represent an individual, the advisory
authority body would write to the lawyer or make a decision
if to remove him from the panel of lawyers. But, he said
all this was dependant if the lawyer had a good reason for
not showing up to the court.
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Senior
Counsel GILBERT PETERSON, Director
of Legal Aid and Advisory Authority, speaks
at the official launch of the “Here to Help”
campaign.
A
cross-section of the crowd listen attentively
to Senior Counsel GILBERT PETERSON at
the MovieTowne Entertainment and
Shopping Complex.
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Asked
about the recent confusion of the Sean Luke murder case where the
Legal Aid lawyer did not show up, he said he understood there was
a private attorney whose services were being paid for, but he was
not showing up while the Legal Aid attorney had been granted leave.
Attorney-at-Law and Board Member of the Legal Aid and Advisory Authority
Anan Singh, said the legal services was established to aid citizens,
but with limitations, since it excluded industrial practices.
“Many members of the community are not aware of its services.
“It is a tragedy since people are denied their rights,”
he said.
The state, he said has provided legal services free or at minimal
costs and the series of events would show how persons could use
the law to good advantage.
Singh said the Legal Aid would help lawyers give back to the community
and the service was provided with one goal in mind, which was to
help the public and reassure and re-educate people.
Pannists, Island Breeze and Debra Maillard with her “Philomena”
personality provided entertainment at the function. |
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