Nepal

Pro bono service declaration issued

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KATHMANDU, MARCH 27The first national conference of pro bono lawyers issued a nine-point declaration here today calling on stakeholders, including the government and Nepal Bar Association, to bring conceptual clarity on pro bono legal service and enhance the efficiency of pro bono lawyers. 'Pro bono lawyers need resources' National conference of lawyers concludes The nine-point declaration of pro bono lawyers committed to provide quality legal service to service seekers as well as free legal aid to indigent people and victims of domestic violence, human trafficking and caste discrimination. The pro bono lawyers' conference also demanded in their declaration that Legal Aid Act and Lawyers Council Act be amended to provide incentives to pro bono lawyers.

The declaration also urged universities to incorporate the concept of pro bono in the law syllabus to motivate young lawyers to provide pro bono service to needy people.Stating that institutions such as the National Human Rights Commission, National Women Commission, National Dalit Commission, local governments and quasi government bodies needed to provide pro bono services, the pro bono lawyers' conference urged these institutions to adopt policies related to pro bono services.The conference also urged collaboration with development partners, international and regional network, and UN bodies in the field of pro bono service.Speaking at a press conference here today, Chair of the National network of pro bono lawyers Shom Prasad Luitel said they felt the need to promote the pro bono movement in Nepal so that indigent people, particularly migrant workers who were becoming victims of human trafficking, could easily avail legal service.Luitel said since pro bono service would be provided to the poor and needy people without any expectation of remuneration from clients, the government should change laws to provide incentives to pro bono lawyers.

Luitel said his network would provide pro bono service to poor people in all 77 districts.Executive Director of Forum for Women, Law and Development, Sabin Shrestha, said two or three pro bono legal service per year might not seem a herculean task for some people but pro bono legal aid would be an important tool to get justice for poor and backward sections of society."Since lawyers have a social responsibility to provide some services free of cost, all lawyers should be ready to provide pro bono services to a few people every year," said Shrestha.Executive Director of Public Defender Society of Nepal Ajay Shankar Jha said that if pro bono service could be developed every year, about 60,000 people could get free legal aid from around 20,000 lawyers in the country.A version of this article appears in the print on March 28, 2022, of The Himalayan Times. .

This article first appeared/also appeared in https://thehimalayantimes.com 




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Category: Nepal


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