The country will observe National Legal Aid Services Day today with a view to ensuring rule of law, fundamental human rights and justice for everyone.
The Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs has taken elaborate programme marking the day.
On the eve of the day President M Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina gave separate messages highlighting importance of the day.
“In most of the cases, the hardcore poor are usually being deprived of their constitutional right of getting legal support and that’s why the government has formulated ‘National Legal Aid Services Act in 2000’ to ensure legal assistance to the poor people,” said the president in his message.
The Awami League government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina formulated the act and established National Legal Aid Services Organization (NLASO) in the same year to carry out government’s legal assistance activities.
“I believe that celebration of the National Legal Aid Services Day will play an important role to ensure the access of all to the legal aid services programme introduced by the government,” Hamid added.
The success of the legal aid services depends on integrated approach of all concerned organizations including judges, lawyers, NGO workers, human rights workers and development partner organizations, he said.
In her message, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ensured people’s fundamental and legal rights through the constitution in 1972. “But the rule of law and fundamental human rights were jeopardized in the country after the assassination of the father of the nation in 1975,” she added.
After 1975, the BNP-Jamaat alliance government carried out widespread killing and repression, and resisted the path of fair trial and that’s why people were deprived of their right of getting legal support, said the PM in her message.
“We are working to implement ‘access to the right of justice’ under the SDG goal by 2030 which would help us to establish justice and safe life by removing all sorts of fear and discriminations,” said Sheikh Hasina.
To make the people aware of the legal aid services, the government from a cabinet meeting on January 29, 2013, declared April 28 as National Legal Aid Services Day.
Any citizen, especially acid attack victims, widow or those abandoned by husband, people languishing in jail without trial, differently able people, victims of human trafficking, or people who are unable to get justice, are being given legal assistance at government’s cost.
