By Pemphero Malimba:
The Malawi Legal Aid Bureau (MLAB) has recorded over 30,000 cases through its electronic case management system since it became independent about 10 years ago, The Daily Times has learned.
MLAB spokesperson John Namalenga Jnr said the cases include 10,900 which are criminal and 19,800 civil.
“We have been conducting several interventions and one of them is coordination with the Malawi Law Society when it comes to the handling of cases because there is what we call pro bono legal services scheme. This is where we partner the Malawi Law Society and private [practice] legal practitioners to come to the Legal Aid Bureau to collect cases they can handle for free. So, when these cases are being handled by them, they return to us when they are done with the cases,” he said.
He said the bureau was ensuring that it reaches out to all courts with the majority of the cases.
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“We also ensure that people are getting proper attention, in terms of alternative dispute resolution and also mediation. So, in doing this, we look into measures of serving costs and ensuring that there is a good relationship between the concerned people because not all cases are supposed to go to court,” he said.
proper attention
Namalenga Jnr was quick to say the bureau continued to face understaffing challenges that saw lawyers handling many cases each, as it has 52 lawyers across the country.
“We would love to have more lawyers but we cannot specify the number. As we speak, a lawyer is handling an estimated 500 cases, which is a big job. It could have been better if we had a lawyer in each and every district but, ideally, it’s not possible because we receive inadequate funding,” he said.
He expressed optimism that things would improve as the bureau was expecting additional officers to join it.
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“We also have officers that have recently been admitted to the bar and, in the soonest time possible, we will also have these officers attending to clients in court and ensuring that they are handling cases in court and [ensuring that] people are being represented,” he said.
He said the bureau was planning to operate in all the districts of the country.
“We want to have more offices than we do now because, currently, we have 23 offices across the country. So, we are still remaining with about six districts where we need to open offices and, funds permitting, we are going to open those offices,” he said.
Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament Chairperson Gilbert Khonyongwa said the committee was scheduled to engage the bureau on the issue of how its challenges could be addressed.
“We are yet to engage the bureau as it is on the list of institutions we are going to engage as a committee to fully appreciate the nature and extent of the problems that the bureau is facing,” Khonyongwa said.
He, however, observed that the bureau had been facing numerous challenges in its operations.
“[As for the issue of] the presence of financial problems within the bureau, that one I know from the general knowledge, having been in the legal profession and I worked there at one point in my life. I know there are serious funding issues,” he said.
The bureau was established under Section 3 of the Legal Aid Act of 2011 with a primary statutory mandate to provide legal aid services to the indigent and vulnerable people who are in need of legal services.
