LAHORE: The Punjab government is all set to establish the first ever legal aid agency to provide free service of proper defence lawyers to non-affording accused of criminal cases, enabling them to have their cases properly pleaded.

Currently such service is being provided through an executive order issued in February 2015. But the rates are too low to engage any proper lawyer for the accused.

Official sources informed Dawn on Wednesday that the chief minister had approved establishment of the Punjab Legal Aid Agency through a fresh law. The agency would administer the right to legal representation for people, accused of a crime, who could not afford it, they said.

The executive order of February 2015 allows for payment of Rs25,000 for a Lahore High Court and Rs20,000 for a sessions court case.

Officials said the current provision of such legal aid was very meagre and was leading to miscarriage of justice to the poor people accused of a crime.

The agency would have the powers to make payments on case-to-case basis. The payments would be higher in cases requiring services of the senior and experienced lawyers. “Every accused has legal and human rights and we are going to ensure them for those who cannot afford to engage a lawyer for want of money,” a senior official said.

He said draft law for the agency was being prepared and would soon be sent to the law department for checking and enactment.

The establishment of the agency is one of the many interventions by the Punjab government to improve the criminal justice system in the province.

Published in Dawn, February 8th, 2018