There are two approaches a legal services clinic could adopt towards providing legal assistance to the marginalized:
1) A State-supported legal aid model, or
2) A pro-bono model which works as a parallel system to legal aid.
Legal aid is a welfare mechanism supported by the State to provide support to individuals who do not have the capacity to manage legal representation on their own. Generally, law schools tie up with District Legal Services Authorities to provide legal assistance to the needy. The role of the State is at the centre of the idea of legal aid, because the mechanism is heavily dependent on initiatives and funding from the government. In India, roughly eighty percent of the population is eligible for legal aid as per thecriteria under Section 12 of the Legal Services Authority Act, 1987. However, there have been only fifteen million beneficiaries under the legislation, and as of December 2021, only 1% cases are under the belt of State-provided legal aid.
To fill this gap, an alternative to a legal aid centre could be found in a pro bono clinic. Pro bono comes from the Latin phrase pro bono publico meaning ‘For the public good; for the welfare of the whole’. Pro bono involves provision of free legal services on part of a lawyer to a client just as the lawyer would provide the same services to the client who is paying. All rules of professional conduct that usually apply are applicable to pro bono cases also. However, the State is not a party to this process.
Lack of understanding regarding the distinction between the two can cause an identity crisis for a legal services clinic not knowing whether it wants to work within the legal aid system or work parallel to it. Law schools should carefully study both models and make an informed choice as to whether they want support the system through a pro bono clinic or be part of it by actively oiling the machinery of the State.
Source: Barandbench
