Acting Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court Justice A. J. Desai virtually inaugurated the offices of the Legal Aid Defense Counsel System in 11 districts of the state.
Gujarat became the third state in the country, following Kerala and Jharkhand, to have the Legal Aid Defense Counsel System operational in all 32 District Headquarters.
Ahmedabad (Rural), Banaskantha at Palanpur, Bhavnagar, Gandhinagar, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Kheda at Nadiad, Mehsana, Rajkot, Surat, Vadodara, and two Legal Services Committees at City Civil Court, Ahmedabad and Metropolitan Magistrate Court, Ahmedabad are among the 11 districts where the Legal Aid Defense Counsel System was launched.
The Legal Aid Defense Counsel System (LADCS) is a mechanism that replaces the existing Assigned Counsel System of Legal Aid delivery for providing free and competent legal aid to needy litigants in criminal cases, according to a press release from the Gujarat Legal Services Authority (GLSA).
To provide quality legal services in a more professional manner, NALSA established the Legal Aid Defense Counsel System, which entails a full-time engagement of lawyers with a support system, and the said unit exclusively deals with legal aid work in criminal matters, either in the district or at the headquarters. Initially, it was limited to cases before Sessions, but it has now been expanded to Magistrate Courts, with lawyers not permitted to take private cases.
The Chief Legal Aid Defense Counsel, Deputy Legal Aid Defense Counsel, and Assistant Legal Aid Defense Counsel are the three layers that make up the office of Legal Aid Defense Counsel, and they are all paid for the services that they provide.
The system would, according to the GLSA, improve access to and availability of Legal Aid Defense Counsel, as well as their capacity for timely and efficient client consultation, improved responsiveness, updating of legal aid seekers, and accountability on the part of legal aid providers.
