Extended Legal Aid Access Delayed
The desire to open more legal aid offices in the country to increase access to justice for the citizenry has been choked with challenges that have now delayed role out of the program.
But Legal Aid Bureau Director, Masauko Chamkakala, remains optimistic that the bottlenecks shall be cleared soon and access to legal aid will be made more accessible soon.
The plan had been to open new bureau offices in the districts of Karonga, Nkhotakota, Mangochi, Mulanje and Mchinji where lawyers would be accessible to the citizenry.
As of Monday January 6th 2020, only two out of the five district offices had been opened.
Increasing poverty and increasing costs of hiring lawyers in Malawi have worsened the situation for citizens seeking legal advice and justice in and outside the courts.
Consequently, the increasing gap between the have and have-not has relegated the have-not to situations of near-no-access to justice in Malawi.
