07 Sep 2017

Legal Aid Botswana, a statutory state enterprise that is independently administered under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defence, Justice and Security, has worked on ensuring that the poor have better access to the justice system.

In an interview with BOPA, Legal Aid Botswana Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr Peter Brits said the government had established the institution in order to allow poor people better representation in legal matters.

“In 1998 during a Commonwealth Judges Development Conference I made a presentation about poor people lacking access to legal representation in the developing world. In 2008 the government conducted a study about the feasibility of providing legal aid in this country, and from 2011, we started out a pilot project operating from the Attorney General’s Chambers,” Mr Brits said.

He said Legal Aid started out as a pilot project operating from the Attorney General’s Chambers in 2011, and after a motion tabled in 2013, parliament passed a law establishing Legal Aid Botswana in January 2015.

Mr Brits said they offer legal education to ordinary people across the country, on the services we offer and on the rights and obligations they have. We also offer legal advice and representation.

He said that although government funds their institution, they operate independently and are able to represent their clients even if they have a case against the government.

“We have salaried lawyers who represent our clients, but on a case basis we also engage private lawyers if we need their expertise, if our resident lawyers are too engaged, or if there is conflict of interest,” Mr Brits said.

He added that they have offices in Gaborone, Francistown, Kasane, Maun and Tsabong, with another office planned for Palapye, due to be constructed during the eleventh National Development Plan (NDP 11).

“Citizens qualify, and we also represent a small number of formally recognized refugees. We asses whether a person can be assisted on the basis of their monthly income and the assets they have; we then gauge whether they are able to afford private attorneys or they need legal aid.

But normally people who earn P5000 a month or less qualify,” Mr Brits said.

He said they only deal with civil matters such a divorce, maintenance, access to children or custody, domestic violence, contractual matters, damages claims, land matters, wills and estates among others.

“We currently do not handle criminal cases, but that may be considered in future. We have a complement of 68 staff who operate at our offices and assist people from towns and villages within a 100 kilometre radius of our operations,” Mr Brits said.

He urged Batswana not to confuse Legal Aid with legal insurance businesses that require people to pay monthly premiums, as theirs is a state funded body that assists the poor gain access to justice. ENDS