Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Priya Manickchand, will launch today, the Linden Branch of the Guyana Legal Aid Clinic.
Coastal dwellers, Berbicians and Essequibians, are already enjoying the Legal Aid services.
Over the years, the Guyana Legal Aid Centre (GLAC) has been playing an integral role in assisting persons of limited means with legal advice and representation.
The centre currently has four offices namely in Georgetown, Essequibo, West Coast Berbice and East Berbice/Corentyne.
Attorney-at-Law Khemraj Ramjattan recently said that legal aid is a very positive development and he commended Manickchand, for the service outside Georgetown.
According to Ramjattan, lawyers’ fees and costs for bringing litigation are largely beyond many persons in Guyana, and the Government has helped by stepping in and providing some form of legal aid.
Ramjattan added that the government should ensure that more money is put into legal aid, and not the very sparse sum that is today being put. Statistics show that from January to September last year, GLAC had a clientele of 1,460.
The website states that for civil matters, which include adoption, bigamy, division of property, divorce and domestic violence, the legal aid centre had interviewed 1,361 persons, advised and represented 645, given advice to 711 persons, and found 5 persons ineligible for legal aid.
In terms of criminal matters, such as assault, disorderly behaviour, murder/manslaughter, rape/carnal knowledge and robbery and theft, the clinic interviewed 99 persons and advised and represented 34.
GLAC’s Essequibo office clientele for June to September last was 235, while for Region Five (Fort Wellington) for July to September it was 40. Last year, GLAC had a clientele of 1,945.
Guyana Legal Aid Centre (formerly Georgetown Legal Aid Clinic) is a non-governmental, non-profit, non-partisan organisation formed to provide legal aid to persons who cannot afford to employ the services of a member of the private bar.
It existed in the 1970s, and was resuscitated in March 1994.
To date, it has assisted over 10,000 people, the majority of them women.
It also provides legal advice and assistance in relation to civil matters, including a review of the funding of such cases in light of international best practice (e.g. provision of legal aid; no-win no-fee arrangements); and improves “customer service” ethos of justice sector institutions, the revised strategy stated.
Source: https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2009/06/19/linden-gets-legal-aid-clinic/