The Paralegal Advisory Service
& Access to Justice by
Children
Presentation
At
The International Conference on Access to Legal Aid in Criminal Justice Systems 24-29 June, 2014
Johannesburg, South Africa
Clifford Msiska
cliffmsiska@gmail.com
Paralegal Advisory Service Institute- Malawi
INCEPTION OF PARALEGAL
ADVISORY SERVICE
• The1996 Pan-African Seminar on Prison
Conditions in Africa noted that under-trial
prisoners constituted up to 80% of the total
prison population in some countries in Africa due
to lack of legal aid services
• Review of juvenile cases in 3 prisons in Malawi
(1999) revealed179 in Zomba prison illegally
held
• Regional Seminar on Juvenile Justice
recommends launching of Paralegal Advisory
Service in prisons to monitor remand cases
ISSUES IN LEGAL AID SERVICE
PROVISION
• Practical, affordable and effective legal aid
service delivery scheme
• No one country has got it right-judicare
has collapsed in many countries, pro bono
schemes have hidden costs and many
problems
• In Europe, legal aid costs have risen and
governments are looking for radical
alternatives
Is there an over-dependence on
formal courts which are:
• Inadequate
• Expensive, or at least beyond the means
of the average poor person
• Provide a Prado-type service when a
bicycle would do just as well
• Slow because the formal procedures can
be slow
WHAT DO CHILDREN NEED
BEFORE LEGAL
REPRESENTATION
• Advice: bail, appeal
• Assistance: trace sureties,
parents/guardians
• Mediation: civil cases and petty criminal
cases
• Referral services which are affordable and
free-urgent bail applications to the lawyers
to take forward in the courts
THE CORNERSTONES OF
PASI
• Legal literacy:to help children understand the
law and how it affects them
• Legal advice and assistance:to enable children
to apply the law and help themselves
• Linking the criminal justice system: improving
communication,co-operation and co-ordination
between the police,courts and prisons
• Informing policy-makers: collate data to
influence policy changes within the criminal
justice system
PRISON/REFORMATORY
SCHOOL
• Paralegals conduct Daily Paralegal Aid Clinics in
prisons: empowering children to apply the
criminal law and procedures in their own case
(arrest to appeal)
• Paralegals facilitate Camp Courts-screening
sessions- held in prisons: magistrate screens the
remand caseload:bail,discharge, set dates for
hearing
POLICE
• Trace parents/guardians of juveniles
• Screen juvenile offenders with a view to
diversion (24/7)
• Attend at police interview with juvenile
• Facilitate victim offender mediation so that
child suspects escape prosecution
COURT
• Attend outside court to assist:
– Witnesses and sureties (role and orientation)
– Legal empowerment for accused persons not
in custody (not represented by a lawyer)
– Follow up individual cases from
prison/reformatory schools and police
IMPACT OF PARALEGAL
ADVISORY SERVICE
• More than 75 child suspects are released monthly
• Over 80%juveniles diverted at the police station out of the criminal
justice system
• Almost no child is in police cells for more than 48 hours
• No child is kept in prison serving the Order of the Court
• Specialisation in administration of child justice
• Lawyers see the benefit of paralegals who can identify and prepare
case files for them to action in the courts
• PAS replicated in Benin(2002), Kenya (2004), Uganda (2005),
Niger (2006), Bangladesh (2008),Sierra Leone (2009), Liberia
(2010), South Sudan-Wau(2010) and Enugu-Nigeria (2012).
END OF PRESENTATION
GOOD LUCK!!!!