Justice ministry, partners discuss legal aid funding

Establishing a legal aid fund was among the key issues discussed at a workshop that brought together Ministry of Justice officials and its partners. The two-day event closed yesterday in Kigali. According to Isabelle Karihangabo, the permanent secretary at the ministry, the dialogue aimed at assessing the implementation of two policies approved by Cabinet las year; National Legal Aid Policy and Justice Policy for Children. The Cabinet had approved about Rwf9.5bn budget to implement those two policies in a period of four years and the workshop assessed whether it was enough. “The fund is a proposal from the national legal aid policy and is for all vulnerable groups, both adults and children. We have to decide when the fund can start and how much will be needed in the next fiscal year budget as we enter its preparation period. Then donors and partners will also inject in funds,” Karihangabo said while opening the meeting on Thursday. She added that the stakeholders were also expected to provide ideas on the legal aid draft law and how it will be managed before sending it to Parliament and the Cabinet. “Before the ministry and stake holders would carry out separate activities without coordination, now the gathering must solve the issue,” Karihangabo said. Isabelle Karihangabo. Children’s issue Children that need legal aid include victims of crimes, those who commit crimes, those living in families with disputes like divorce or having cases with parents, orphans deprived of rights and others. However, Andrews Kananga, the executive director of Legal Aid Forum, said there was a big challenge in rural areas where the vulnerable groups who could benefit from the fund are not aware of the supporting law, organisation and lawyers available to support them. “Children cases have decreased. In 2009, we had about 1,000 cases while in this and last year we had about 200 cases. But it does not mean that we do not have those who did not access justice as they are not aware of the services. We need to build communication channels to raise awareness,” Kananga said. He insisted that there was still lack of funds to pay lawyers for the poor and children as now the minimum fees for a lawyer is Rwf500,0000. Kananga also cited inadequate capacity for lawyers and other partners in legal aid as a challenge. “We need those with skills in counselling as we receive many victims of drug abuse and others,” he said. Violence against street children has also been raised as an issue that lack legal aid. “Legal aid services must not be discriminating. All partners; namely, individuals, civil societies, MAJ (Maison d’Acces a la Justice) and Legal Aid Forum should also reinforce how they receive and treat cases of street children. This could help local government and gender and family promotion ministries in their efforts to put them in centers, educate and help them access justice,” Karihangabo advised.

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Justice ministry, partners discuss legal aid funding