ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Law and Justice Dr Muhammad Farogh Naseem on Tuesday suggested constituting a central legal aid authority with sub-committees at provincial levels to provide free legal aid to deserving litigants who might otherwise not be able to defend their genuine legal rights or interests due to limited financial resources.
Chaired a meeting of the committee constituted by the federal government to prepare a set of recommendations for a new legal aid mechanism for the poor and vulnerable segments of the society, the minister said that the legal aid authority should work under the supervision of the Ministry of Human Rights in terms of the rules of business.
In the meeting, it was decided that the TORs and the draft bill of the proposed authority should be finalised within two weeks by the Ministry of Human Rights, where after the draft bill would be placed before the committee for review by the relevant stakeholders.
It was also agreed that a core group of lawyers would be nominated to work on a pro bono basis to ensure the implementation of the proposals.
Federal Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mizari, SAPM on Accountability Shahzad Akbar, Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan secretary and other officials of the Ministry of Law and Justice also attended the meeting.
