Poor criminals to get free legal representation

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR

Paralegal Advisory Service Institute (PASI) in collaboration with Open Society Justice Initiative has launched a pilot programme which will benefit people charged with crimes in Lilongwe and Mangochi at no cost.

This is part of the Institute activities to commemorate 61st anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

PASI national director Clifford Msiska said in a press statement released last Saturday that through the project, people charged with crimes in Lilongwe and Mangochi who cannot afford a lawyer will finally have access to basic legal representation at the earliest stages of the criminal justice process.

The statement says pilot sites will provide legal assistance at the early stage of the criminal justice process when people are the most vulnerable to abuse.

“Malawi’s criminal justice system is plagued with problems including the failure to provide criminal defendants with legal aid,” said Clifford Msiska.

“This program will provide basic legal services without draining the country’s coffers.”

According to the statement, PASI’s paralegals will screen arrestees to promote the diversion of appropriate individuals out of the formal criminal justice process; provide legal information to arrestees; and support arrestees by other means such as helping them locate witnesses and family members, and educating them about the function and procedure of a formal bail hearing.

The project will also rigorously measure the impact and cost of providing paralegals at its two pilot sites. The goals are to show Malawian policymakers that the program works and is cost-effective, and encourage them to create a country-wide system of criminal justice paralegals.

In his remarks, Open Society Justice Initiative executive director James A. Goldston observed that too many criminal defendants in Malawi languish in jail without ever receiving advice or help from a lawyer.

“Paralegals can help ensure that people’s most basic rights are protected,” he said.

Malawi, like a number of African countries, has a dearth of professional legal services. The country has only a few hundred lawyers for a population of more than 13 million.

In such conditions, programs that use paralegals are often able to resolve justice problems quickly and at low cost.

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