Legal Aid & Advice

The Academy was the first organization in the state to take up legal aid on a massive scale. As early as in 1970, the Academy has organized legal aid camps with large-scale people’s participation at the village, municipal & various local self-government levels. The pattern adopted was to select, dispute prone villages and areas, carryout intensive and extensive large-scale surveys in such areas and hold mass legal aid camps with executive and people’s participation. From 1980 onwards till the 1991 such camps were held regularly at coastal areas among fishermen community. Since 1970, every year the Academy selects at least 3 different areas for alternate dispute resolution through people’s participation. In 1985, the Academy also set up a permanent legal aid clinic, which works regularly throughout the year for alternate dispute resolution through mediation and other techniques. In addition to this the clinic also organizes week long para-legal training for village level social workers so as to enable them to disseminate legal knowledge among the people. A permanent legal services Center also functions in the campus providing free legal aid and advice to the poor. The Center also undertakes mediation and conciliation to resolve the disputes.

The Academy has been in the forefront in providing large scale legal assistance and aid to the poor litigants through permanent legal aid clinics and massive area wise Lok adalaths and Neethimelas. The Academy works closely with the District and Taluk Legal Services Authorities in providing them the services of students and in providing the students exposure to settlement of cases and holding Lok Adalths. The activities of the Legal aid clinics also include identifying villages prone to litigations and adopting strategies to evolve litigation free villages and give the poor, access to justice through free legal aid, for which the legal services Center maintains a list of competent lawyers who are willingly to provide free legal service.