National Legal Services Day

 National Legal Services Day

“Although I am a typical loner in my daily life, my awareness of belonging to the invisible community of those who strive for truth, beauty, and justice has prevented me from feeling isolated." Albert Einstein

Justice is a very broad concept, largely speaking about providing fair and equal treatment to every individual. Justice is done by framing a set of rules and regulations and an authority to protect them. In India, the judiciary is given the authority to protect the rules and regulations written down in the Indian constitution. It also looks after the rights of people. The preamble in the constitution clearly states that the state will secure social, economic, and political justice for all its citizens. The Indian judiciary is independent and thus known for its delivery of fair justice. This is the reason that people have faith in the judiciary and its courts. But, over time, the cost of obtaining justice has increased, thus making it difficult for people from the most vulnerable sections of society to ask for justice. The government realised this problem and came up with a solution for it. In 1976, equal justice and free legal aid were made part of the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP) under Article 39A. In 1987, the government passed the Legal Services Authority Act. This act was brought into force on November 9, 1995, and since then, National Legal Services Day has been celebrated on this day.

Under the act, the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) was constituted, which aimed to provide free legal services to the weaker sections of society and to organise Lok Adalat’s amicable settlement of disputes. The authority is headed by the Chief Justice of India. Further, there are various committees at the state, district, and taluka levels. There are different committees for the Supreme Court and the High Court as well. Providing free legal aid and advice, spreading legal awareness, organising lok adalats, promoting settlements of disputes, and providing compensation to victims of crime are the services provided by these legal services authorities. They receive funds from the government for providing these services. Providing free legal aid is one of the most important services among these. There are some criteria for availing of free legal aid. Another important function of the NALSA is the Lok Adalat, which is an alternative dispute redressal mechanism. It doesn’t give verdicts but instead makes a settlement or a compromise between the two parties. Also, on National Legal Services Day, legal awareness camps are held by state legal services authorities across the country to apprise people about the availability of free legal aid. Further, nationwide programmes are organised every year to make people aware of the various services provided by legal services ganizations. In order to monitor the performance of the legal services authorities, NALSA receives monthly activity reports from all the State Legal Services Authorities (SLSAs), highlighting all the activities carried out in a particular month. Apart from monthly activity reports, NALSA also receives annual reports from all the SLSAs and prepares its own annual report, which is laid before both Houses of the Parliament of India.

In recent times, NALSA has faced challenges like lack of funds, shortage of qualified legal professionals, complexity in legal procedures, lack of legal awareness, social stigma, inaccessibility to legal aid, and a large number of pending cases. Promoting the legal services authorities is immensely important in a country like India, as a lot of people from the most vulnerable sections of society, even if they are oppressed, are reluctant to approach the judicial system for justice. Sometimes, they aren’t able to approach the judiciary due to their financial conditions. To provide justice to everybody, it is necessary to promote such steps by the government. And to optimise NALSA's efforts, a collaborative effort between government institutions and civil society is crucial, ensuring a more inclusive and effective delivery of legal aid services to those in need.

      - Ashmit Gupte.