Breaking Barriers: Pro Bono Services for Access to Justice for People with Disabilities
Date: 3 December
Time: 8.30 – 10.00
Session Description:
Access to justice is a fundamental human right. It ensures that everyone is able to seek and obtain a remedy when their rights are violated. However, people with disabilities often face significant barriers when trying to access justice. These barriers can include physical barriers, such as inaccessible court buildings or lack of accommodations, as well as attitudinal barriers, such as negative stereotypes and assumptions about people with disabilities. Pro bono legal services can play a critical role in breaking down these barriers and ensuring that people with disabilities have equal access to justice. Pakistan Legal United Society (PLUS) is a registered not-for-profit organization and working on right of the PWDs. The objective of PLUS is to improve access to justice for everyone especially persons with disabilities. It is built around the belief that free legal aid is a fundamental right, as well as the right to fair trial and representation before court.
The session will discuss the barriers that people with disabilities face when accessing justice across Pakistan and how pro bono legal services can help to overcome these barriers and challenges. Thereafter, in this session the presenter will involve the participants in an activity, which will not only promote teamwork and engagement but also educate participants about the issues and challenges faced by persons with disabilities and the importance of pro bono work to ensure their rights and protections.
Through interactive sessions participants will understand through different activities. There are a number of ways in which pro bono services can be used to address the needs of people with disabilities, visibility, and inclusion of person with disability with society. Pro bono lawyers can provide legal representation in disability discrimination cases, Equality of opportunity, Accessibility, Equality between men and women, assist with disability-related benefits claims, and provide advice and support to individuals with disabilities and affected families, who are facing legal challenges. PLUS Legal Aid from 2021-2023 deal with 300 individuals disabled persons and their families for Probono legal services like as advices, representations, awareness sessions , workshops , visibility meetings and Capacity building trainings through public and private partnership. PLUS Legal Aid believes in inclusion of person with disabilities.
People with disability may find it difficult or impossible to access public places because of stairs, narrow doorways, or other physical barriers and they may have difficulty expressing themselves or understanding what is happening in legal proceedings. They may need interpreters, assistive technology, or other accommodations to participate fully. People with disabilities may encounter negative attitudes or stereotypes from lawyers, judges, or other court personnel.
To overcome these challenges, the PLUS through public and private partnership with government, has developed a legal help desk to work closely with disabled persons and their families to better understand the needs and experiences of people with disabilities. A team of professional lawyers visits the help desk center to conduct interviews with the persons with disabilities and strive to fight for their rights and raise awareness campaigns to promote the rights of the PWDs to implement laws and rules imposed by the government in pursuance of CRPD convention, the PLUS have developed effective strategies for providing pro bono services that are tailored to the unique needs of people with disabilities.
In conclusion, pro bono services can play a critical role in ensuring that people with disabilities have equal access to justice. However, to become more effective, we are willing to learn from and collaborate with other worldwide organizations experience. By working together, we can break down the barriers that prevent people with disabilities from accessing justice and ensure that everyone has the opportunity to pursue their legal rights.