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GOOD NEWS FOR PEOPLE WHO CAN’T AFFORD LEGAL FEES

30/03/2023 09:06:00 Mbongiseni Ndzimandze

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MBABANE - In what will come as a relief to litigants who cannot afford legal fees, the process of setting up a Legal Aid Office in the country has begun.

Legal Aid is a government initiative under the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, which seeks to help people with low or no income (indigent) to receive legal education, advice and representation. Once the office is up and running, eligible people would include those who have little or no money left after paying for basic necessities like food and housing. A person will automatically qualify for legal aid if he or she falls under the following groups: children juveniles; elderly; persons with disability; survivors of gender-based violence (GBV); internally displaced persons, stateless persons, asylum seekers and refugees whose vulnerability resulted in their inability to generate income. It has been gathered from insiders that as part of the process to establish the office, Lungile Magagula, a Senior Government Lawyer, formerly with the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC), has been appointed as the director. When sought for comment on the progress made in the establishment of the Legal Aid Office in the country, Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Lindiwe Mbingo said the ministry was at an advanced stage of setting up the office. “The office will start as a small unit within the ministry, with the overall plan to have fully fledged legal aid services rolled out to the indigent across the country,” said Mbingo.

Appointed

The PS further stated that, to ensure the institutional set-up, the ministry had appointed a secretariat led by the director to coordinate activities towards the setting up and alignment of strategic goals with the Legal Aid Policy of 2022. “We are also working around the clock to ensure that the legislative framework in the form of the Legal Aid Bill is adopted to give the office legal basis to operate. Most of the information on access and those who will benefit will be disseminated in the next quarter upon finalisation of the necessary guiding documents,” said the PS.

The Legal Aid Office has been established by the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs in line with priority 5 of the country’s 2019-2023 Action Plan Road map, which mandates the ministry to ensure legal assistance for the indigent as part of its goal to ensure equal access to justice for every citizen in the country. The National Legal Aid Policy was passed by Cabinet in November 2022, and currently governs the management and administration of legal aid in Eswatini. The ministry is still in the process of enacting Legal Aid legislation and amending the Legal Practitioners’ Act in order to facilitate the smooth operation of the legal aid initiative. The mandate of the Legal Aid Office is to provide qualitative and sustainable legal information and education, legal training, legal assistance, legal advice, alternative dispute resolution, legal representation and other related and incidental services to indigent and vulnerable persons, victims or witnesses in criminal, civil and other non-litigious matters by a legal aid provider, subject to certain limitations.

Currently, the Legal Aid Office is still developing its systems and procedures to enable the smooth running of the office when it finally opens to the public. A launch of the legal aid initiative in underway and the public will be informed accordingly. Every person who will require legal aid assistance will have to apply by completing a prescribed form. The form will be submitted to a Legal Aid officer and shall be accompanied by an Income and Asset Declaration Form. To get legal aid, a person will have to show that he or she cannot afford to pay for legal costs and have a serious legal problem.

Evidence

A person will also have to give details and evidence of their income and assets, including savings and property and those of their partner if married or living together with a partner. If under 18, a person will need to give information about their parents or guardians. The legal aid shall determine eligibility and conduct a means test to determine if a person qualifies for legal aid. A means test is a tool used to determine whether a person is indigent or can afford his or her own legal representation or qualifies for legal aid. The means test considers each applicant’s income and assets to determine;
* Whether the person can be given legal assistance without contribution;
* The person can be given legal assistance conditionally upon payment of partial or full contributions towards the cost of the legal assistance;
* The person can afford their legal assistance without any financial hardship.