The Lagos State Government on Wednesday said it would establish a special fund to assist young lawyers to give free legal services to the poor.
The State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Ade Ipaye, disclosed this at a workshop with the theme, “Building a Culture of Pro Bono in Nigeria.”
The workshop was part of activities marking the 2014 Lagos Public Interest Law Partnership (LPILP) Pro Bono Week.
Ipaye said the fund, which would be launched on April 11, would create better access to justice in the state.
“We intend to launch a fund for independent young lawyers to assist them in handling their pro bono cases. Such funds can be used for payment of their filing charges and transportation cost to fast track the justice system,” he said
The commissioner said lack of legal representation for accused had caused long adjournments in courts thereby casting shadows on the reputation of the judiciary.
In a keynote address, the State Deputy Governor, Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, said women and children were at the receiving end of unequal access to justice in the society.
“Everyday we read about gender-based violence, women and child abuses. Some of these women are so helpless that they do not even know what to do.”
Adefulire said the population of Lagos had placed an enormous responsibility on the government, especially in the area of providing access to justice for all residents.
She commended the 66 law firms and four NGOs for partnering with the state government to actualise the objective.
Also speaking, Prof. Edwin Rekosh, an adjunct professor at Colombia University, New York, noted that it was not only in Nigeria that access to justice was under pressure.
Rekosh said countries such as the UK and US had cut funding for legal aid in recent years.
He said notwithstanding, government still had an obligation to render free legal services to its citizens who could not afford such services.
Presenting a report on the culture of pro bono in Lagos, Prof. Lanre Fagbohun, said there were enormous challenges being faced in providing equal access to justice for citizens.
Fagbohun, who represented the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies on the occasion, observed that majority of litigants still appear in court without attorneys for economic reasons.
Omotola Rotimi, the Director, Office of the Public Defender (OPD), urged more lawyers to buy into the ideals of the LPILP. “Our aim is to develop a framework for public-private partnership dedicated to ensuring that no resident of Lagos State is prevented from accessing the justice system the grounds of lack of means.
“We are confident that this partnership and the commitment from all of us, access to justice will soon become a right for all citizens and not a privilege for a few,” she said.
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