The Paradox Of Access: A Critical Evaluation Of The Quality Of Free Legal Aid In India
Saran Rajeev, Assistant Professor, Al- Azhar Law College, Thodupuzha, Kerala
Jephy F Xavier, Research Scholar, School of Legal Studies, Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT)
ABSTRACT
Access to justice is one of the pillars of the rule of law and constitutional governance. The constitutional provisions in India for free legal aid as enshrined in Article 14, 21 and 39A of the Constitution, coupled with the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, have failed to deliver the legal aid services effectively due to huge institutional and structural weaknesses. The article is a critical analysis to question the effectiveness of the legal aid system in India in providing access to justice or simply formal access to the law. Using a doctrinal research approach, the study examines the constitutional provisions, acts and statutory provisions, judicial decisions, Law Commission Reports and legal scholarship of the time to analyse the qualitative aspects of legal aid. The article contends that the problem is not the absence of legal aid providers but the poor quality of representation, low compensation for legal aid lawyers, the lack of public knowledge of legal aid services, digital exclusion, and institutional inefficiencies which hinder equal justice promised by the constitution. It also examines the National Juridicare model as a paradigm of rethinking law and law help from a social justice perspective instead of welfare perspective. The article draws lessons from the experience of the legal aid systems of the United Kingdom, Australia and South Africa and suggests potential reforms to enhance institutional capacity, quality assurance and professional accountability. It will draw conclusions that access to justice is not a quantitative process and legal aid must move from measures of quantity to quality to achieve meaning and to realize the constitutional vision of substantive equality and social justice.
