A total of 1,23,629 people across the country received the government-sponsored legal assistances in seven years from 2009 to 2015.
“The National Legal Aid Services Organization (NLASO), has given legal assistances to 123,629 people who were unable to afford legal representation or access to the court from 2009 to 2015,” according to a data revealed by the NLASO, a government body administering legal aid.
Of them, 9,160 legal aid-seekers were given legal assistances in 2009, 11,266 in 2010, 12,568 in 2011, and 15,450 in 2012. Legal assistances were also extended to 19,493 in 2013, 25,283 in 2014 and 30,409 others in 2015, it was revealed.
“The number of legal aid-seekers is increasing day by day due to vigorous campaign of the present government in this regard,” Register General of Bangladesh Supreme Court Syed Aminul Islam told BSS on Saturday.
He said after establishing the Bangladesh Supreme Court Legal Aid Office on March 15 as many as 210 people applied seeking legal assistances and 171 cases of those came under the legal aid framework.
“Of the 171 cases, 74 were settled finally while 97 others are under trial,” he added.
Despite the article 27 of the Constitution of Bangladesh guaranteed that “All citizens are equal before law and are entitled to equal protection of law”, many people are being deprived of their constitutional rights to get justice due to poverty.
The state legal aid programme is administered within the legal framework of the Legal Aid Services Act, 2000 (LASA). In terms of LASA, National Legal Aid Services Organization (NLASO) has been established by the government.
NLASO is a statutory body working under Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs to adopt policies and principles for making legal services available under the Act.
Any poor person is entitled to get free legal aid service. Besides, any individual receiving old age allowance, distressed mother holding a VGD card, women and children victims of trafficking and acid throwing, insolvent widow, abandoned or distressed woman, disabled person, poor detainee can avail themselves of the free legal services.
The government has established a permanent legal aid office in every district to make the legal aid services more effective, expeditious and service-oriented.
The Government of Bangladesh in the meantime observed April 28 as the National Legal Aid Day.
