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Free legal aid, under the Indian Constitution, is a fundamental right of the accused in criminal cases and a means-tested entitlement for the poor in civil matters. Article 39-A of the Constitution obligates the State to provide legal services to the needy people in order to secure speedy, costless and equal justice and to create an egalitarian society. To this end, the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) was set up in 1987 under which various policies and programmes were initiated at the State, District and Taluqa levels from time to time. However, available records and data show that the delivery of legal services suffers from innumerable problems as a result of which justice often gets delayed or even denied to the hapless people. Consequently, during the last two decades, the implementation of legal aid policies has emerged as a big challenge to successive governments in India. Thus, with a view to identifying and rectifying the loopholes in India`s legal aid delivery mechanism and making it a genuinely pro-poor institution for their social upliftment and empowerment, this book makes an indepth study of Britain`s legal aid to draw positive lessons for India. The British legal aid system is considered to be the most comprehensive and effective in the world, with the highest per capita spending and with an annual budget amounting to almost 3 billion pounds (2009/10). Today, it has emerged as a model for several countries, particularly the developing nations including India, who have designed their legal aid apparatus or incorporated features of the British system. The book investigates the role of Britain`s service providers, both government and non-government organisations, particularly of the Citizens Advice Bureaux and Law Centres, the two most popular voluntary organisations involved in delivering legal aid to the poor all across Britain. At the same time, the book presents a detailed and a critical account of the Indian legal aid scenario, which is followed by a comparative analysis of the Indo-British systems. The book concludes by offering a number of policy recommendations to the policy makers to revamp and reenergise legal aid in India. This book, has been made possible by a research fellowship granted by the Commonwealth Commission, London and the University Grants Commission, New Delhi. The project was carried out at the London and Essex Universities under the supervision of Prof. Bill Bowring between December 2010 and May 2011.ISBN-9788183875851
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Pages : 260
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