Chief Justice inaugurates Legal Aid Defence Counsel System at district courts
Amritsar, August 17
The Legal Aid Defence Counsel System established in the office of the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) here was inaugurated through virtual mode by Justice Ravi Shanker Jha, Chief Justice, Punjab and Haryana High Court, who is also the patron-in-chief of Punjab State Legal Services Authority, on Thursday.
Justice Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia, Judge, Punjab and Haryana High Court-cum-Executive Chairman, Punjab State Legal Services Authority and Manjinder Singh, Member-Secretary, also attended the event.
Harpreet Kaur Randhawa, District and Sessions Judge-cum-Chairman, District Legal Services Authority, said that the new model of legal services delivery, the ‘Legal Aid Defence Counsel System’ (LADCS) is in line with the public defender system which has been introduced by the National Legal Services Authority (NLSA).
She further stated that the ‘Legal Aid Defence Counsel System’ involves full-time engagement of lawyers with support system, dealing exclusively with legal aid work in criminal matters at every stage starting from pre-arrest, arrest and remand to the conclusion of trials and appeals etc.
It will enhance the availability and accessibility of legal aid in a timely manner and help in creating a mechanism to provide qualitative and competent legal services in a professional manner to the underprivileged and disadvantaged sections of society, she said.
