There is no doubt that Kenya is a very litigious country, with thousands of pending unresolved cases creating massive backlog in the Judiciary.
With the reality of the current poverty divide that hinders the poor, vulnerable and marginalised persons who cannot afford the tedious and expensive court processes from accessing justice, there is a gem that offers free legal services and legal aid to the poor, vulnerable and marginalised persons.
The National Legal Aid Service was created under the Legal Aid Act 2016 to support and enable those who cannot afford to pay for legal services to access justice.
The Act was enacted in realisation of Article 48 of the Constitution on access to justice, which provides that the state shall ensure access to justice for all persons and if any fee is required, it shall be reasonable and shall not impede access to justice.
With NLAS, the public have a reason to believe in exploring alternative resolutions to their disputes without going through the court process which takes many years to conclude while piling the case backlogs.
The agency exists to bridge the gap between the poor and the rich in access to justice and address age-long assumption that justice is only for the rich.
It offers legal aid which include free legal advice, legal representation and assistance in resolving disputes by alternative dispute resolution (ADR), drafting of relevant court documents and helping parties reach any out-of-court settlement.
In addition, the agency creates awareness through provision of legal information and law-related education as well as undertaking advocacy work on behalf of the community.
All Kenyan citizens, children, refugees, victims of human trafficking, internally displaced person or a stateless person are eligible to ask for free legal assistance from NLAS in matters involving civil disputes, criminal cases, children cases, constitutional cases and cases of public interest.
The agency provides free legal services in compliance with Article 19 (2) of the Constitution, which provides that the purpose of recognising and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms is to preserve the dignity of individuals and communities and to promote social justice.
This extends to vulnerable persons facing criminal charges where the Act provides that every person in remand, prison or police cell shall be informed of the right to legal aid by the officer in charge.
And in court if the person cannot afford the services of an advocate for representation, the court shall inform them of the right to legal representation and notify NLAS to provide legal aid.
With the increasing need for legal assistance, especially among the poor communities, the government and the European Union signed a Financing Agreement to implement the Programme for Legal Empowerment and Aid Delivery enhance access to justice.
Plead’s objective is to develop an integrated approach at the central and local levels aimed at equality of all before the law, through improved access to and the expeditious delivery of justice particularly in high-risk counties.
It also targets five counties with the largest urban centres and seven counties of the most marginalised areas of Northeastern, where the rule of law is particularly challenged due to social inequalities or abject poverty.
The counties are Wajir, Mandera, Lamu, Tana River, Garissa, Marsabit, Isiolo, Kisumu, Nairobi, Mombasa, Uasin Gishu and Nakuru.
The financial support extended to NLAS under the Plead programme is to ensure that there is access to legal aid particularly in the marginalised and high-risk counties, and that the public are aware of their legal rights and how to access them, and efficiency in delivery of ADR.
The target of the legal aid services is for those who cannot afford legal representation to enforce or claim their rights. This has helped NLAS to expand its reach and effectiveness to the whole populace, especially the poor and vulnerable.
To ensure people in the 12 select counties access justice, the agency has been organising legal aid clinics and awareness campaigns not only to help resolve disputes through free legal services, but also to empower the people to know their legal rights.
The legal awareness and legal aid clinics include prison visits to empower those in remand or serving sentences with skills on self-representation in instances where the state agency cannot provide an advocate to represent the person in court.
The writer is a communications consultant at the National Legal Aid Service under the Programme for Legal Empowerment and Aid Delivery funded by the European Union