LEGAL SERVICES AUTHORITIES ACT,

1. LEGAL SERVICES
AUTHORITIES
ACT,1987
“THE CONCEPT OF SEEKING JUSTICE CANNOT BE EQUATED WITH THE VALUE OF
DOLLARS. MONEY PLAYS NO ROLE IN SEEKING JUSTICE” JUSTICE HARRY
BLACKMUN
BY- AISHWARY VARDHAN THAKUR
ROLL NO.-15

2. LEGAL AID MOVEMENTS BEFORE
ENACTMENT OF LSAA,1987
 The earliest Legal Aid movement appears to be of 1851, when some enactment was introduced in France for
providing legal assistance to the indigent.
 Expert committees constituted, from 1950 onwards, to advise governments on providing legal aid to the poor and said
that the formal legal system is unsuited to the needs of the poor.
 Since 1952, the Govt. of India also started addressing to the question of legal aid for the poor and In 1960, some
guidelines were drawn by the Govt. for legal aid schemes.
 In 1980, a Committee at the national level was constituted to oversee and supervise legal aid programs throughout the
country under the Chairmanship of Justice P.N. Bhagwati.
 In 1987 Legal Services Authorities Act was enacted to give a statutory base to legal aid programs throughout the
country on a uniform pattern.
 This Act was finally enforced on 9th of November, 1995 after certain amendment

3. HIGHLIGHTS OF LEGAL SERICES
AUTHORITY ACT,1987
 The National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) has been constituted under the Legal Services Authorities Act,
1987 to monitor and evaluate implementation of legal services available under the Act.
 The Act empowers the State to establish a Four Tier System of providing speedy and Informal justice at the
National, State, District and Taluk Levels.
 Section 2(1)(a) and section 12 of the act, provide him counsel at State expense, pay the required Court Fee in the
matter and bear all incidental expenses in connection with the case. after examining the eligibility criteria of an
applicant.
 Lok Adalats have been given statutory status and the award (decision) made by the Lok Adalats is deemed to be
a decree of a civil court and is final and binding on all parties and no appeal against such an award lies before
any court of law.

4. PERSON ELIGIBLE FOR LEGAL AID UNDER
THE LSAACT,1987
 A member of a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe;
 A victim of trafficking in human beings or beggar;
 A woman or a child;
 A mentally ill or otherwise disabled person;
 A person in circumstance of underserved want i.e. victim of a mass disaster, ethnic violence, caste atrocity,
flood, drought, earthquake or industrial disaster; or an industrial workman; or
 A person in custody, including custody in a protective home or in juvenile home or in a psychiatric hospital
• A person whose annual income is less than Rs. 50,000 or such other higher amount as may be prescribed by
the State Government

5. CONSTITUION AND HIERARCHY OF
NALSA
 In every State, a State Legal Services Authority and in every High Court, a High Court Legal Services Committee has been
constituted
 District Legal Services Authorities and Taluka Legal Services Committees have been constituted in the Districts and most
of the Talukas in order to give effect to the policies and directions of the NALSA and to provide free legal services to the
people and conduct Lok Adalats in the State.
 The State Legal Services Authorities are chaired by Hon'ble Chief Justice of the respective Districts and the Taluk a Legal
Services Committees are chaired by the Judicial Officers at the Taluka Level.
 Also Supreme Court Legal Services Committee has been constituted to administer and implement the legal services
programme in so far as it relates to the Supreme Court of India.

6. IMPROVEMENT IN LEGAL SERVICES TO WEAKER
SECTION AFTER LSA ACT,1987
• Till 31 march 2009 about 96.99 lakh people have benefited through legal aid, in which about 13.83
lakh persons belonging to Scheduled Caste and 4.64 lakh people of Scheduled Tribe . More than 10.22
lakh people were women and about 2.35 lakh people in custody were also benefited.
• Till march 2009 About 7.25 lakh Lok Adalats have been held throughout the country in which more
than 2.68 crore cases have been settled
• During the period from 1st April to 30th September, 2011 more than 6.95 lakh persons have benefited
through legal aid services .
• In 2013, the first National Lok Adalat had seen disposal of 71.50 lakh cases.
• The second National Lok Adalat saw the disposal of over 1.25 crore cases in 2014.
• Over 56,000 cases across the country were disposed in the third National Lok Adalat held in 2015.

7. CONCLUSION
Legal aid is not a charity or bounty, but is an obligation of the state and right of the citizens.
The prime object of the state should be equal justice for all. Lack of legal awareness - It is the
absence of legal awareness which leads to exploitation and deprivation of rights and benefits of
the poor Legal services institutions have until now functioned in uncharted waters, often
making their presence felt only at certain ports of call like court-based legal services,
organising legal literacy camps and Lok Adalats. Now, with a paradigm shift in the concept of
legal services, legal services authorities are reaching out to the people to facilitate 'access to
justice' to all in the most practicable and economical manner. Para-legal volunteers can help
bridge the gap between the ordinary citizen and legal services institutions. Bringing in more
competent, well-known and senior lawyers for rendering Legal Services and Legal Aid.
Payment of better honorarium to the lawyers who provide Legal Aid. Inclusion of all
designated senior lawyers in the Legal Aid Schemes and requesting them to undertake at least
two cases free of charge every year. In appropriate cases, payment of the entire expenses
including the normal fees of the lawyers. Annual evaluation of the progress of cases in which
Legal Aid was given.