PROBONO SERVICES

Society and Law both are interlinked area of study. We cannot imagine a society without law/rules/regulations. There are various problems in the society and to handle those situations effectively we need proper laws. Law plays very crucial role in social transformation in any country. Looking at various problems in the society, many laws have been enacted to cope up with the variety of situations.  To address this situation we need legal awareness activities in the society. On the other side there are some marginalized people who cannot afford to hire a lawyer for legal advice or filing a case. Legal Aid service is needed to serve these kinds of people. Many institutions/organizations have been set up which are engaged in various legal aid/awareness activities.

Free legal aid and services in India is primarily the mandate of National Legal Services Authority and State Legal Aid Services authorities which has a wide presence throughout the country. However, the legal needs of people continue to grow requiring meaningful contribution from the legal community. Pro Bono legal service as a concept has not gained much momentum in the country and remains more of an ad hoc, individualized practice lacking an institutional structure. Pro Bono comes from the Latin expression “pro bono publico” meaning “for the public good”. Many lawyers provide poor and underprivileged clients with valuable legal advice and support without seeking any professional fee. Unfortunately, this laudable tradition of public service has not received any deserving recognition. In many countries pro bono legal support has emerged as the dominant means of dispensing free representation to poor and underserved clients.

Objective

To encourage lawyers and legal professionals to provide pro bono legal services

To recognize pro bono legal work being provided by lawyers and legal professionals

To create a database capturing vital information of lawyers for appropriate positions in the relevant field

Scope

Creation of the database will assist the Department of Justice in identifying lawyers providing pro bono services. The information could be utilized by DoJ to create a liaison between entitled to legal services under The Legal Services Authority Act, 1987 and a qualified lawyer providing pro bono services having expertise or interest in the related matter. The government has also proposed to include and recognize pro bono legal assistance provided by lawyers as a yardstick to be considered for appointment to appropriate positions. The database therefore will act as an additional tool for the authorities to assess pro bono services provided by lawyers.
There are thousands of laws in India touching various aspects. Many are not aware about some crucial laws which they are supposed to know. To cope up this situation many organizations have come up in India by way of conducting legal aid and legal awareness activities. Different organizations are working on different legal aid and legal awareness issues. There is a need of common platform which integrate these all initiatives. ProBono India has been set up to address this issue for the benefit of public at large.
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