Background
- Pro Bono comes from the Latin expression “pro bono publico” meaning “for the public good”.
- The Constitution of India by virtue of Article 39 A directs the State to provide free legal aid to the poor and weaker sections of the society, to promote justice on the basis of equal opportunity.
- Further, Article 14 and 22 (2) of the Constitution ensures equality before law. Also, the United Nations Sustainable Development – Goal 16 underscores the obligation of States ‘to ensure equal access to justice for all’.
- Keeping in line with these obligations and with a view to encourage pro bono legal services the Department of Justice (DoJ) intends to create a database of lawyers willing to provide their services to litigants identified under Section 12 of The Legal Services Authority Act of 1987.
Pro Bono legal service India
- Founded in October 2016.
- With an aim to integrate legal aid and awareness initiatives – ProBono India has ventured into different avenues viz. legal aid, legal awareness, legal intervention, legal journalism, legal activism etc. – all with the underlying objective of contributing to the positive development of the society with a strong socio-legal approach.
- The activities at ProBono India include an active dissemination of legal information via the medium of its official website, rolling internship programmes for law students to help them develop a holistic personality with a socio-legal approach to their professional personality, interviews with eminent personalities working at the ground-level offering insights into their successful projects, providing a platform to promote and publish the art of research and legal writing, amongst many others.
- The team of ProBono India works to promote legal activism as we believe that law and society are two sides of the same coin.
- Law and society are so inextricably interdependent that both need to be equally improved in order to lead the world into the desired new order.
Objectives
- 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
Eligibility of lawyers and legal professionals to register for the service
- Has enrolled with a Bar Council
- Has been practicing as an advocate at the Bar
- Age is no bar for creating a profile for pro bono
- Those between 44-54 years of age will be provided the option to provide additional information if interested to be considered for appropriate positions.
Source: vikaspedia and probono-india.in
