Lawyers take justice to the people

LEKOPANYE MOOKETSI
Correspondent | Tuesday August 7, 2007 00:00

Over the weekend, members of the society provided legal consultation in Old Naledi, Bontleng and Mogoditshane to members of the public.

The society invited members of the public to hearings where they were advised on legal issues.

The chairperson of the society, Tebogo Sebego said 65 people came to get legal advise at the Old Naledi community hall.

He said the issues that people raised included matters dealing with loans, land disputes, maintenance cases, civil claims and a few criminal questions.

Sebego said the project is consistent with the law society's theme of putting a  'human face to the legal profession'.

He said this was just a pilot project and they want to spread to other areas after evaluation. 

Sebego said their members in Francistown also embarked on a similar mission. 
He also takes the exercise as some means of a social responsibility by the lawyers.
Sebego said they also want a legal aid programme because the justice system leaves a lot of people without legal representation. 

He said there are many people who have been convicted when they have not committed any crime.  He believes that many people cannot afford legal representation. He added that many children and women are deprived of their estates because they could not afford to engage lawyers. 

'It is very important that government introduces legal aid,' he said.
Sebego said legal representation should be made available to everybody.  But at the moment, he said, this is not the case.  This, he said, is why they are advocating for the introduction of legal aid.

He said the consultations conducted would strengthen their call for legal aid.
Sebego said the programme of taking justice to the people was part of their strategic plan. 

He said they held a retreat in Kasane where they came up with a strategic plan to embark on public education campaigns which would also target schools.

Another project on the law society's agenda is to train members about ethics.
One of the people who wanted advice said the lawyers advised them on how to file cases.  He said he was going to do a lot of research before he could institute legal proceedings. 

Another client, Tshiamo Baloko said he has also benefited from the services that were provided by the members of the legal fraternity on how to take it if he was to institute a legal matter. 

He said the lawyers also told him about the services that are provided by the legal clinic run by the University of Botswana's law department.