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Right to Legal Aid & Access to Justice

This study explores the challenges faced by undertrials in Alwar Prison, Rajasthan, focusing on legal aid, representation, and access to justice. Research findings reveal issues such as delayed production before magistrates, lack of legal counsel, and inadequate lawyer-client interactions.

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Right to Legal Aid & Access to Justice

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  1. Right to Legal Aid & Access to Justice The state of Undertrials in Alwar Prison of Rajasthan

  2. 1 Introduction What is to be addressed

  3. 17,477 Rajasthan’s prison population as on 1 March 2012

  4. 11,954 5,523 Number of Undertrials Number of Convicts

  5. 2 Mandate Agencies of Criminal Justice System

  6. Keeping Liberty as Paramount… JUDICIARY To ensure speedy trial based on fair trial standards POLICE To ensure timely filing of chargesheet & availability of police escorts for court production PRISON To facilitate timely production of Undertrials in Court & inform Undertrials about next production date LEGAL SERVICES AUTHORITY To ensure access to counsel at the earliest to any person in custody LAWYER To provide effective legal representation to his/her client

  7. 3 Research Our findings

  8. The Study STUDY SAMPLE Interviewed345Undertrials in Alwar Prison of Rajasthan

  9. Objectives of the Study To use evidenced based advocacy to institutionalise mechanisms that check unnecessary detention Objectives of the Study… 1 To examine the state of legal aid in the district 2 To collect empirical data to identify major problems faced by Undertrials 3 To examine the implementation of legal provisions

  10. Scope of the Study Socio-economic background of the undertrial population First production before the magistrate Access to lawyer Access to free legal services Quality of legal representation Production before the court Period of remand and detention Implementation of legal provisions – bail & plea bargaining Knowledge of undertrials on basic legal provisions & trial status

  11. Socio-economic background 67% fall in 18-30 years age-group 32% are illiterate Age Education Caste 55% belong to socially & economically backward classes of the society 51% were sole earners in their family Out of which 39% earned between Rs.1000-5000 ($20-100) per month Families of 9 inmates did not know that they are in prison

  12. ARREST & FIRST PRODUCTION

  13. First Production before Magistrate 60% were not produced within the statutory limit of 24 hours!

  14. REMAND & BAIL

  15. Period of Remand & Detention 18 inmates have been in prison for more than a year as Undertrials! Period of remand was never extended to less than 14 days! No production in Additional District Judge’s Court, Behror which was vacant since July 2010

  16. Application for Bail 20% did not know whether their lawyer had ever applied for bail Lawyers of 22% had not applied for bail • Bail application of 82% were dismissed/rejected • 13 out of 201 were allowed bail but unable to furnish surety 70% did not know why their bail was rejected by the Court

  17. Production in Court Reasons for Non-production About 30% court productions do not take place because of lack of Police Escorts!

  18. Production in Court Are inmates actually produced before the magistrate or locked up in Court lock-up? Don’t know Only taken to Court but never produced Always produced Sometimes produced 30.5% are only taken to court but never produced before the Magistrate 14% could not even differentiate between taking to court and effective production

  19. LAWYER-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP

  20. Access to Lawyer Only 10 inmates had legal aid lawyers Kind of Lawyer Only 5% had access to counsel at the time of arrest First Access 40 inmates did not have a lawyer!

  21. Meeting with Lawyer 60 inmates have never met their lawyers 59% meet their lawyer only in Court at the time of hearing Periodicity Place Time per meeting More than 60% usually meet their lawyer for less than 15 min. No place for lawyer-client interaction within jail premises Lawyer-client communication happen only through families

  22. Quality of Legal Representation 36% are not satisfied by services provided by their lawyers Information provided 30 inmates complained that their lawyers were never present in Court Presence In Court 1 out of 10 inmates having legal aid lawyer complained of the lawyer demanding money from the client

  23. Knowledge of Inmates * 75 inmates did not apply for bail. Data shows only those who had applied for bail. ** Undertrial’s right to be released on personal bond if half of the maximum period of imprisonment is completed in judicial custody. *** 274 inmates were ineligible for Plea Bargaining. Data shows only those who were eligible. 53% did not know about right to free legal services from the State 20% were unaware whether their lawyer had ever applied for bail 70% did not know why their bail was rejected by the Court

  24. Strategic Future Interventions

  25. Thank you! Prison Reforms Programme Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative

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