PRISONERS/ PERSONS IN CUSTODY STATUS OF LEGAL AID FOR PRISONERS/ PERSONS IN CUSTODY

CHRI’s Work On Legal Aid Setting up of Legal Aid Clinics B. Training of Paralegal Volunteers C. Training of Legal Aid Lawyers D. Advocacy with the DLSA’s & SLSAs E. Evaluating Implementation of the schemes

Why should we evaluate the Status of Legal Aid ? To understand the extent of the problem B. To compare the extent of the problem in different geographies C. To compare the changes in the extent of the problem over years D. To look for solutions and strategically advocate for specific solutions

How do we evaluate the Status of Legal Aid ? What should be the parameters/indicators? B. Can these parameters be quantified? Where is the information on these parameters? Parameters vs Mandate

PARAMETERS NUMBER OF BENEFICIARIES 2. STAGE OF ACCESS TO LEGAL AID 3. QUALITY OF LEGAL AID LEGAL AID BUDGETS 5. STATUS OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE AND PROCESSES

STATUS OF LEGAL AID NUMBER OF BENEFICIARIES : Since the 1987 Act was enacted, out of the total list of 1.77 crore beneficiaries of various schemes of the legal services authority, only 4.68 lakh persons in custody have been provided with legal aid. So prisoners form less than 3% of the persons benefitted through legal aid schemes. Moreover, prisoners in Delhi form almost a quarter of these 4.68 lakh prisoners.( Supreme Court Annual Report 2015) 2. STAGE OF ACCESS TO LEGAL AID AT TRIAL, AT CHARGESHEET, AT SUBSEQUENT REMAND, AT FIRST PRODUCTION, AT ARREST, PREVENTING CONFLICTS 3. QUALITY OF LEGAL AID PRESENCE OF LAWYER IN COURT, DEFENDS THE CLIENT, VISITS HIM IN JAIL 4. LEGAL AID BUDGETS OTHER EXPENDITURES

STATUS OF LEGAL AID IN RAJASTHAN

STATUS OF LEGAL AID IN RAJASTHAN NUMBER OF ARRESTS IN RAJASTHAN IN THE LAST TEN YEARS: 24,36,533 NUMBER OF PERSONS IN CUSTODY PROVIDED LEGAL AID IN THE LAST TEN YEARS: 17,505 SO, ON AVERAGE, IN A YEAR- 2,40,000 PERSONS WERE ARRESTED IN RAJASTHAN. ONLY 1750 OF THEM WERE PROVIDED LEGAL AID . THIS MEANS LESS THAN 1% ( 0.72%) OF THOSE ARRESTED ARE PROVIDED LEGAL AID ( SOURCE: Crime In India , NCRB and Rajasthan SLSA Website) Four  Legal Aid Clinics in West bengal and One in Rajasthan in collaboration with the SLSA and DLSA where we interviewed prisoners , referred their cases to the DLSA and HCLSC, followed up with the DLSA,  ensured their appointment and trained the paralegals and worked with them.   Worked on implementation of legal aid schemes for persons in custody- NALSA Regulations on 2010 & 2011; and the RSLSA R&B Scheme based on NALSA's Model Scheme NALSA 2010 Regulations has been formulated to provide quality legal services by creating a panel of legal aid whose work is overseen by a monitoring committee.  NALSA 2011 Regulations were formulated to  constitute legal aid clinics manned by the paralegals and visited by lawyers,  at places with barriers to access legal aid institutions. The Model Scheme mandates lawyers to be attached to each magistrate court so that no inmate goes undefended in court. This is a scheme developed in 1990's and is not a regulation therefore the status of its presence / implementation  and form needs to be enquired. CHRI has written to all the SLSA's in this regard.  CHRI has made an effort to improve the implementation of these schemes in Rajasthan and WB by working closely with the SLSA and DLSAs, by training lawyers and PLVs and undertaking studies to help the institution identify the gaps in the implementation. 

THREE NALSA SCHEMES IN RAJASTHAN CHRI’s STATUS REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THREE NALSA SCHEMES IN RAJASTHAN

Number of Prisons: 9 Central Jails 24 District Jails 60 Sub Jails RAJASTHAN PRISON : PROFILE Number of Prisons: 9 Central Jails 24 District Jails 60 Sub Jails 3 Reformatories 28 Open Camps 1 High Security Jail Number of Prisoners : 20,391 Number of Undertrials : 14,551 ( More than 70%) Demographics: 82% Inmates are either SC, ST or OBC Four  Legal Aid Clinics in West bengal and One in Rajasthan in collaboration with the SLSA and DLSA where we interviewed prisoners , referred their cases to the DLSA and HCLSC, followed up with the DLSA,  ensured their appointment and trained the paralegals and worked with them.   Worked on implementation of legal aid schemes for persons in custody- NALSA Regulations on 2010 & 2011; and the RSLSA R&B Scheme based on NALSA's Model Scheme NALSA 2010 Regulations has been formulated to provide quality legal services by creating a panel of legal aid whose work is overseen by a monitoring committee.  NALSA 2011 Regulations were formulated to  constitute legal aid clinics manned by the paralegals and visited by lawyers,  at places with barriers to access legal aid institutions. The Model Scheme mandates lawyers to be attached to each magistrate court so that no inmate goes undefended in court. This is a scheme developed in 1990's and is not a regulation therefore the status of its presence / implementation  and form needs to be enquired. CHRI has written to all the SLSA's in this regard.  CHRI has made an effort to improve the implementation of these schemes in Rajasthan and WB by working closely with the SLSA and DLSAs, by training lawyers and PLVs and undertaking studies to help the institution identify the gaps in the implementation. 

LEGAL AID FOR PERSONS IN CUSTODY NALSA (FREE AND COMPETENT LEGAL SERVICES) REGULATIONS 2010 NALSA (LEGAL AID CLINICS) REGULATIONS, 2011 NALSA’S 'MODEL SCHEME FOR LEGAL AID COUNSEL IN ALL COURTS OF MAGISTRATES’ AND RSLSA’S LEGAL ASSISTANCE TO PERSON IN CUSTODY SCHEME GUIDELINES 2012 Four  Legal Aid Clinics in West bengal and One in Rajasthan in collaboration with the SLSA and DLSA where we interviewed prisoners , referred their cases to the DLSA and HCLSC, followed up with the DLSA,  ensured their appointment and trained the paralegals and worked with them.   Worked on implementation of legal aid schemes for persons in custody- NALSA Regulations on 2010 & 2011; and the RSLSA R&B Scheme based on NALSA's Model Scheme NALSA 2010 Regulations has been formulated to provide quality legal services by creating a panel of legal aid whose work is overseen by a monitoring committee.  NALSA 2011 Regulations were formulated to  constitute legal aid clinics manned by the paralegals and visited by lawyers,  at places with barriers to access legal aid institutions. The Model Scheme mandates lawyers to be attached to each magistrate court so that no inmate goes undefended in court. This is a scheme developed in 1990's and is not a regulation therefore the status of its presence / implementation  and form needs to be enquired. CHRI has written to all the SLSA's in this regard.  CHRI has made an effort to improve the implementation of these schemes in Rajasthan and WB by working closely with the SLSA and DLSAs, by training lawyers and PLVs and undertaking studies to help the institution identify the gaps in the implementation. 

LEGAL SERVICES INSTITUTION JAIL VISITING LAWYER & PARALEGAL VOLUNTEER MONITORING COMMITTEE FIRST PRODUCTION LEGAL AID APPLICATION FORM 2 FORM 1 LEGAL SERVICES INSTITUTION JAIL VISITING LAWYER & PARALEGAL VOLUNTEER SCRUTINY & EVALUATION COMMITTEE PERSON IN CUSTODY

EARLY AND EFFECTIVE LEGAL AID THE RIGHT PERSON AT THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME DOING THE RIGHT THING THE RIGHT PERSON 1. CREATION OF PANEL OF COMMITTED ACCOUNTABLE TRAINED LAWYERS AND PARALEGALS 2. ALLOCATION OF CASES BASED ON QUALIFICATIONS AT THE RIGHT PLACE 1. LEGAL AID AT POLICE STATION 2. LEGAL AID AT COURT 3. LEGAL AID AT JAIL AT THE RIGHT TIME ARTICLE 22(1) OF THE CONSTITUTION VERSUS GUIDELINE 7(4) OF NALSA 2010 DOING THE RIGHT THING 1. VISITS OF LAWYERS AND PARALEGALS AT JAILS AND POLICE STATIONS 2. ENSURE SMOOTH WORKING OF THE LEGAL AID CLINICS IN JAIL AND POLICE STATIONS 3. SAFEGUARD THE RIGHTS OF THE ACCUSED AT THE POLICE STATION, PRISON AND COURT A. Panel Lawyers : Duties of the Panel lawyers  B. Selection of Retainer Lawyers - Numbers  defined         Regulation - They are supposed to work exclusively, remuneration 5000- 10,000. So role clarity, some exclusive hours C. Appointment of R&B Lawyers: Is the role limited to opposing remand for first production, or subsequent remand,  or only till PC remand  or till Chargesheet. Also their role vs the role of the panel lawyers.  CHRI recommends it role to be of a stop-gap arrangement. They should represent inmates in custody until the LSI appoints someone. D.  JVL:  JVL are panel lawyers who are expected to visit the legal aid clinics in jails and provide legal awareness, identify people who need legal assistance and ordinate with PLVs to provide them legal aid. As the entire legal aid delivery mechanism involves multiple stakeholders,  regular visits of the JVLs to inform about the status at LSA, progress of the case, information from other lawyers, other bodies are received in time. NALSA scheme does not specify a time- frame, as per Raj Scheme- twice a month, CHRI- twice a week.  E. PLVs: PLVs every six month( to check)  Gap in appointments,   CHRI recommends Training should involve : handing over, register maintenance.    ALLOCATION OF CASES BASED ON QUALIFICATIONS: When an application for legal aid is received and the LSI has to appoint a lawyer, what is the basis on which he chooses which lawyer from the list should be chosen? The NALSA mandate provides that separate may should be made based on the kind of cases handled by the lawyer. In our experience, the LSI appoint lawyers according to "Serial Number". So considerations like whether the lawyer takes civil/criminal cases; can the person take up NDPS cases, FNP cases, Excise Act cases, preventive detention cases are not made at all.  CHRI recommends that it should be "shall" 

REMAND AND BAIL LAWYERS THE RIGHT PERSON AT THE RIGHT PLACE PARALEGAL VOLUNTEERS POLICE STATION REMAND AND BAIL LAWYERS PANEL LAWYERS RETAINER LAWYERS COURT Right Place – At the police station a) Constitutional Mandate – The Right to Lawyer at arrest- Article 22(1) of the constitution b) Statutory Mandate- Section 12(g) of the Legal Services Authorities Act 1987 clearly mandates that “persons in custody” are entitled to legal aid. c) Schematic provision- NALSA’s revised paralegal scheme also requires the PLVs to be informed when the arrest of a person in the locality takes place. BUT it falls short as enabling provisions are missing:   No Obligation on police officers to inform the PLV or LSI upon arrest No Obligation on police officer to inform the accused of his right to legal aid lawyer No Mechanism for filing legal aid application at the police station Recommendations: Legal Aid Clinics should be constituted in Police Stations. There can be two models: Where the PLV is stationed at the police station and as soon as an unrepresented arrestee enters the police station, the PLV informs the person of his rights including right to legal aid, and if the arrestee requires LA, the PLV calls the Remand & Bail Lawyer assigned to the police station Whenever an unrepresented person enters the police station, the designated officer intimates the Legal Services Institutions which in turn inform the PLV/ Lawyer to visit the prison. Technology could make this process quicker where interlinkages in the platforms in prison and legal services institutions would ensure automatic updates to the DLSA and eventually the lawyers. PARALEGAL VOLUNTEERS JAIL VISITING LAWYERS JAIL

MANDATE GAP RECOMMENDATIONS AT THE RIGHT TIME Time delays in approval of legal aid application : Guideline 7(4) of NALSA 2010 :”The Committee shall scrutinise and evaluate the application and decide whether the applicant is entitled to the legal services or not within a period of eight weeks from the date of receipt of the application. “ GAP Rendering the accused unrepresented for eight weeks which essentially means continued detention for the said period merely to decide whether the person is eligible for legal aid is unreasonable and against the principle of liberty guaranteed under Article 21 RECOMMENDATIONS Legal aid lawyer should be appointed the same day the legal aid application is received from prison, and the legal services institution should ensure that the lawyer visits the inmate in prison within 24 hours. Any verification from the prison or the court should be done right away. Individuals in custody shall not be required to submit an application for the purpose of receiving legal aid during the early stages of the criminal justice process - Article 31.2 of Draft Model UN Law

REPRESENT THE CLIENT EFFECTIVELY IN COURT DOING THE RIGHT THING PROVIDE LEGAL AID AND REPORT TO THE LEGAL SERVICES INSTITUTIONS LEGAL AID LAWYERS REPRESENT THE CLIENT EFFECTIVELY IN COURT MEET THE CLIENT IN POLICE STATION, COURT AND PRISON REPORTING TO THE LEGAL SERVICES INSTITUTIONS INFORMING PROGRESS TO PRISONER & PRISON PARALEGAL VOLUNTEERS ENSURE REGULAR WORKING OF THE CLINIC PROVIDE LEGAL ASSISTANCE TO THE ACCUSED CO-ORDINATE WITH THE JAIL VISITING LAWYER REPORTING TO THE LEGAL SERVICES INSTITUTIONS

(FREE AND COMPETENT LEGAL SERVICES) REGULATIONS 2010 NALSA (FREE AND COMPETENT LEGAL SERVICES) REGULATIONS 2010 The Scheme has been formulated to provide quality legal services by creating a panel of legal aid lawyers to take up legal aid cases which would be monitored by the legal services institutions.

THE MONITORING COMMITTEE CONSTITUTION OF THE COMMITTEE LSA TO SEND FORM II TO THE MC MAINTAIN REGISTERS FOR PROCEEDING SEPARATE STAFF CALL REGISTERS & REPORTS FROM THE LAWYER SEND BI-MONTHLY REPORT TO THE SLSA SLSA TO SUGGEST NEXT COURSE OF ACTION TO THE MC MONTHLY REPORTS FROM THE LAWYER REGULATION 12 REPORTS ABOUT JAIL VISITS ONLY 8 DISTRICTS CONSTITUTED A MC NO FORM II WERE SENT REGISTERS MAINTAINED IN ONLY 2 MC 1 MC HAD A SEPARATE STAFF BI-MONTHLY REPORT WAS SENT FROM ONE DISTRICT SIKAR, HANUMANGARH, JHUNJUNU, AJMER, BANSWARA, BIKANER, DHOLPUR, JODHPUR JHUNJUNU SIKAR, HANUMANGARH SIKAR

NALSA (LEGAL AID CLINICS) REGULATIONS, 2011 & RSLSA GUIDELINES 2012 Scheme mandates establishment of legal aid clinics where there are barriers to access legal services institutions. The Rajasthan SLSA in 2012 have formulated guidelines based on the NALSA Scheme which includes establishing legal aid clinics in jails

CLINICS IN JAILS & POLICE STATIONS WORKING OF THE JAIL LEGAL AID CLINIC CONSTITUTION OF THE CLINIC WORKING OF THE CLINIC APPOINTMENT OF PLVS & TRAINING APPOINTMENT OF JVLS & VISITS MAINTAINING REGISTERS MONTHLY REPORTS ACTION TAKEN COLUMN PERIODICITY CLINICS IN JAILS & POLICE STATIONS FACILITIES MONTHLY REVIEW JLAC IN 44 OF 93 JAILS 3 AS PER THE MANDATE 10- NOT OPERATIONAL APPOINT.- 12 OF 44 JLAC TRAINING- 6 OF 12 JLAC APPOIN. - 20 OF 44 JLAC (SJ-5) 5- NEVER VISITED 3 VISITED AS PER MANDATE REGISTERS MAINTAINED IN ONLY 14 JLAC REPORT SENT BY ONLY ONE JLAC (AJMER)

RSLSA’s LEGAL ASSISTANCE TO PERSON IN CUSTODY SCHEME GUIDELINES 2012 This Rajasthan SLSA scheme is based on NALSA’s Model Scheme For 'Legal Aid Counsel' In All Courts of Magistrates. The scheme mandates appointment of lawyers to be attached to each magistrate court to oppose unnecessary remand and apply for bail for unrepresented inmates

THE WORKFLOW OF REMAND &BAIL LAWYERS SCHEME APPOINTMENT OF R&B LAWYERS OPPOSITION OF REMAND SUBMITTING MONTHLY REPORT ISSUANCE OF ATTENDANCE CERTIFICATES MONTHLY CERTIFICATES & REPORTS TO LSA SUBMISSION OF QUARTERLY REPORTS TO SLSA FIXING REMAND HOURS TIME BOUND SUBMISSION ACTIONS SIKAR WORK REPORT ATTENDANCE REGISTERS EXE. MAGISTRATE COURT RELEASES CHRI COMMON FORMAT ORIENTATION Regularly- 5 Jodhpur Practice Only 7 out of 33 Only 11 out of 33 Mostly 3 or 6monthly Submitted after the term Only 2 (Chittorgarh & Hanumangarh)

RECOMMENDATIONS IN COMMON FOR ALL THREE SCHEMES: TOWARDS ACHIEVEMENT OF ARTICLE 22(1) A. ORIENTATION OF DUTY HOLDERS B. DETAILED APPOINTMENT LETTERS OF THE ACTORS C. RESPONSIBILITY NOTE FOR THE ACTORS D. FEEDBACK FROM THE CLIENT E. STANDARDISED FORMATS F. USE OF TECHNOLOGY : INTERLINKAGES IN THE PLATFORMS Orientation of Duty Holders: It has been our experience that duty holders - be it lawyers, magistrates or even the LSI are usually unaware of their specific duties  under each scheme. CHRI  conducted orientation sessions for remand and bail lawyers in Jodhpur and Alwar and the feedback was encouraging.    Appointment Letters of the Actors: The appointment letters of the actors can be a source where all the information relating to their responsibility under the scheme can  be put together for quick reference of the actors Responsibility Note for the Actors: While the appointment letter would be specific to the role of the actor, responsibility notes help actors have a better understanding of the role of each actor and thus the scheme.  Feedback from the Client: For  the quality of legal aid delivery to improve, there needs to be shift from understanding the inmate to be just a  'beneficiary' to an actor with 'agency'  who has the right to choose his lawyer and give feedback about the quality of lawyering. Standardised Formats: In our experience,  without a standardised format; work reports, registers, certificates are maintained poorly and important  indicators are missed. CHRI has already created some formats, and it would be more than happy to create formats for all the monitoring and reporting mechanisms.  Tracking Mechanisms for the SLSA:  SLSAs are entrusted with the responsibility to monitor multiple schemes. Each scheme involves multiple actors and processes which need to take place periodically. The only way to ensure this is by having tracking mechanisms with alerts in place. Also there should be standardisation in the dates of appointments of actors and submission of documents- Like an activity plan. Without this it is extremely difficult to track these parameters in each district. Use of Technology: With the interlinkages in the role of various actors/institutions, use of technology becomes important to ensure timely access to information to all the stakeholders so that each actor can perform its function in time and thus ensure early and effective access to legal aid. For Example: The moment an unrepresented person enters a police station, it is entered in the portal which is updated with the DLSA on a real time basis. The information is then directed to the corresponding Legal Ai lawyer via a text message with case details.  G. CALENDARS AND TRACKING MECHANISM FOR THE SLSA – DASHBOARD

DASHBOARD- TEMPLATE DISTRICT PANEL LAWYERS REMAND & BAIL LAWYERS JAIL VISITING LAWYER PRISONER PARALEGAL VOLUNTEER LEGAL AID CLINICS MONITORING COMMITTEE Ajmer 08-Jan-16  15-Feb-16  NOT APPOINTED CONSTITUTED Alwar 12-Jan-16  11-Feb-16 Banswara 09-Jan-16  3-Feb-16 Barmer 18-Jan-16 NOT APPOINTED Baran 15-Jan-16  18-Feb-16 Bharatpur Bikaner NOT CONSTITUTED Bhilwara  12-Jan-16  30Feb-16 Bundi  20-Feb-16 Churu  19-Feb-16 Chittorgarh Dausa  09-Feb-16 Dholpur Dungarpur  16-Feb-16

MONTHLY PROGRESS REPORT TEMPLATE – JANUARY 2016 NALSA 2010 REGULATIONS NALSA 2011 REGULATIONS NALSA MODEL SCHEME DISTRICT INMATES REPRESENTED BI-MONTHLY REPORTS FROM MC TO SLSA REPORTS FROM PANEL LAWYERS TO MC MONTHLY REPORT FROM JAIL PLV MONTHLY REPORT FROM JVL WORK REPORTS FROM R&B LAWYERS ATTENDANCE CERTIFICATES FROM R&B LAWYERS Ajmer 23 2 7 1 11 6 Alwar 24 Banswara 3 12 Barmer 4 5 Baran 16 Bharatpur 9 34 32 Bikaner 14 Bhilwara Bundi Churu Chittorgarh 22 Dausa 13 Dholpur Dungarpur 21

THE DEVIL LIES IN THE DETAILS

SNAPSHOT OF LEGAL AID DELIVERY IN WEST BENGAL

Visits to correctional homes In 33 out of the 39 Correctional Homes a representative from the DLSA visits the correctional homes. 92 per cent of the correctional homes (CH) in West Bengal, District Legal Services Authorities have their presence Designation of DLSA representative visiting correctional home Of the 36 CHs in 30 CHs visits were made by either the chairman or secretary DLSA. In remaining 6 the visits are made by panel lawyers who are assigned the task to visit CH Frequency of visits In those CHs visited by DLSAs, the frequency of visits varies considerably. In 15 CHs -DLSA visits once a month, In 13CHs- DLSA visits are made rarely, In 3 CHs- Visits are weekly Intimation to CHs about appointment of lawyers In 29 CHs the DLSAs intimate the correctional homes regarding appointment of lawyers, however in 5 no intimations are sent.

Constitution of Legal Aid Clinics in Correctional Homes In accordance with the SLSA directives of 2013 Permanent Legal Aid Clinics have been established in 32 CHs. However 6 CHs even after two years the PLACs have not been setup. Year of establishment of PLAC Of the 32 PLACs, majority (16) were established by 2013 whereas in some CHs PLACs have been setup fairly recently. Appointment of jail visiting lawyer Out of the 39 CHs, in 29 CHs panel lawyers have been appointed which visit correctional homes. 10 CHs responded that no lawyer has been appointed till date. Frequency of visits Among the 29 CHs where panel lawyers are appointed for visiting correctional homes, in 11 CH weekly visits are supposed to made, in 5 fortnightly visits are made, in 2 monthly visits are to be made and in 1 CH daily visits are made. 10 CHs did not provide any specific response to the query. Whether paralegal assigned Out of the 32 CHs where PLAC has been setup, paralegal volunteers have been assigned in only 24 CHs, while in 5 CHs PLVs need to be appointed in order to make the PLACs functional. Among the 24, in 6 CHs convicts have been appointed as the para legals. Number of cases taken up and releases effectuated Since appointment 2589 cases have been taken up by panel lawyers who visit correctional homes. Of these there are 383 reported cases of releases in cases taken up by the panel lawyers.

SOME SOLUTIONS NORMS 2. INFORMATION TO THE PRISONER 3. GREVIANCE REDRESSAL