J&K Legal Aid Defence Counsel System

January 3, 2023

Recently, Acting Chief Justice of the Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court, Justice Tashi Rabstan, launched the Legal Aid Defence Counsel System (LADCS) in ten districts of the Union Territory.

Expansion of the System

The system, which aims to provide quality legal services in criminal matters to eligible poor persons, will be extended to the remaining ten districts in the coming months.

Strengthening Court-Based Legal Services

During the inaugural address, Justice Rabstan congratulated the selected Legal Aid Defense Counselors and encouraged them to work towards making the system a success. He emphasized the need to strengthen court-based legal services for marginalized sections of society and highlighted the various steps being taken to achieve this, including capacity building for lawyers and the upgrading of front offices.

Comparison to Other Legal Aid Delivery Systems

During the launch of the LADCS, M K Sharma, Member Secretary of the J&K Legal Services Authority (LSA), provided an overview of the scheme and explained how the LADCS is superior to other legal aid delivery systems. In India, the Assigned Counsel System is used to deliver legal aid, with cases being assigned to salaried panel lawyers by legal services institutions. The LADCS, on the other hand, will deal exclusively with legal aid work in criminal matters and will create institutional capacity to effectively provide legal aid to those in need within the criminal justice system.

The launch of the Legal Aid Defense Counsel System in Jammu and Kashmir is a significant step towards providing quality legal services to marginalized sections of society. The system, which will be implemented on a pilot basis in sessions courts, has the potential to be extended to other courts throughout the country if successful. The LADCS will operate exclusively in criminal matters and will provide institutional capacity to effectively provide legal aid to those in need within the criminal justice system.

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