Test: Legal Services - CUET Humanities MCQ

A judiciary that is as fair and independent is an important component in sustaining their trust and confidence. An impartial independent judiciary is the guardian of the individual rights in a democratic society. In order for citizens to have faith in their court system, all people must have access to the courts when necessary.

In 1980, a committee at the national level was constituted to oversee and supervise legal aid programmes throughout the country under the chairmanship of Justice P.N. Bhagwati, then a Judge of the Supreme Court. This committee came to be known as CILAS (Committee for Implementing Legal Aid Schemes) and started monitoring legal aid activities throughout the country.

Article 14(3) (d) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights outlines the requirement for free legal assistance as follows: In the determination of any criminal charge against him, everyone shall be entitled to the following minimum guarantees:
To be tried in his presence, and to defend himself in person or through legal assistance of his own choosing;
To be informed, if he does not have legal assistance, of this right;
To have legal assistance assigned to him, in any case where the interests of justice so require, and without payment by him in any such case if he does not have sufficient means to pay for it.

International law addresses the provision for free legal service from the perspective of human rights. An explicit provision for legal services is incorporated in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). India has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which came into force in 1976 and is bound by the International obligation to provide free legal assistance as per the requirements of the Covenant. The Supreme Court of India recognizes international legal obligations as part of the law of the land when Indian law can be harmoniously interpreted as in conformity with international law.

Sections 9-11 of the Legal Services Authorities Act deal with the District Legal Services Authority. The state government shall, in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court, constitute a District Authority for every district in the state to exercise the powers and perform the functions conferred on, or assigned to the District Authority under the Act.

Pre-litigation simply means 'before a lawsuit is filed in the court'. The pre-litigation legal services include:

• Legal education
• Legal advice
• Legal awareness
• Pre-litigation settlement etc.

The Central Government constitutes the National Legal Services Authority (NLSA) and the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee (SCLSC) for exercising powers and functions as determined by the Central Authority. The NLSA consists of - the Chief Justice of India (CJI) as the Patron-in-Chief, a Judge of the Supreme Court nominated by the President as Executive Chairman, and other members nominated by the Government in consultation with the CJI.

The Lok Adalat shall for the purpose of holding any determination under this Act, have the same powers as are vested in a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), while trying a suit in respect of the following matters, namely:
(a) The summoning and enforcing the attendance of any witness and examining him on oath;
(b) The discovery and production of any document;
(c) The reception of evidence on affidavits;
(d) The requisitioning of any public record or document or copy of such record or document from any court or office; and
(e) Such other matters as may be prescribed.

Section 8A of the Legal Services Authorities Act provides details of the High Court Legal Services Committee. It states, 'The State Authority shall constitute a Committee to be called the High Court Legal Services Committee for every High Court, for the purpose of exercising such powers and performing such functions as may be determined by regulations made by the State Authority.'

In Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India, the Supreme Court observed that the procedure prescribed by law for depriving a person of his life and personal liberty must be right, just, and fair and not arbitrary, fanciful, and oppressive, otherwise it would be no procedure at all and the requirement of Article 21 would not be satisfied.

Article 39A of the Constitution - inserted by the 42nd Amendment Act in 1976 - states, 'The State shall secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice, on a basis of equal opportunity, and shall, in particular, provide free legal aid, by suitable legislation or schemes or in any other way, to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities.'

The 14^th Report of the Law Commission of India mooted the idea of providing free legal aid to the poor by the State. The Report highlighted the responsibility of the legal community to administer legal aid scheme and the State to fund legal representation to the accused in criminal proceedings, appeals and jails.

Section 11B in The Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 deals with functions of Taluk Legal Services Committee. It states, 'The Taluk Legal Services Committee may perform all or any of the following functions, namely:
(a) Coordinate the activities of legal services in the taluk;
(b) Organise Lok Adalats within the taluk;
(c) Perform such other functions as the District Authority may assign to it.

The right to free legal aid is one of the fundamental rights that have been provided to every citizen of our country, and it has been enshrined in Art 22(1) of the Constitution of India. Criminal procedure code of 1973 has also incorporated this ideology in section 304 of the act. Section 304 states, 'Where, in a trial before the Court of Session, the accused is not represented by a pleader, and where it appears to the Court that the accused has not sufficient means to engage a pleader, the Court shall assign a pleader for his defence at the expense of the State.'

Article 8 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights deals with right to effective judiciary. It states that everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted to him by the constitution or by law.