In 1998, Brac’s Human Rights and Legal Aid Services (HRLS) wing instigated its Legal Aid component in order to provide legal support and make the government courts accessible to the poor and destitute.
Through its 517 nationwide legal aid clinics, which is the first port of call for those seeking legal redressal, HRLS’s legal aid initiative has nurtured an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanism.
HRLS has worked towards making legal offices, courts, and counsels, more transparent in the delivery of equitable justice, spread gender awareness, and promoted a unique human rights based culture for its clients.
Brac HRLS has harmonised its legal aid component with the legal literacy module to create the momentum to improve legal legislation and the judicial system.
Up until September 2012, 182,170 complaints have been received by the clinics, 98,430 of which have been resolved through ADR.
Under the leadership of dynamic field personnel, the HRLS programme utilises a vast network of communities and proactive partners to detect, handle, and report, human rights violations. HRLS continues to provide holistic legal aid and support services across the country.
HRLS strengthens the capacity of a large network of panel lawyers for research, litigation, ensuring transparency in the formal legal sector, and monitoring case results. With this, clients receive due protection under the law, the rights to a fair trial, and do not face unnecessary delays resulting from the negligence of various actors in the formal judicial system. By this process, HRLS ensures proper and equal access to justice for poor and marginalised people.
