Pro bono boost for prisoners

2004-03-26 17:49

Cape Town - Prisoners without legal representation will soon be able to benefit from a joint venture between the Cape Law Society and a structure committing law practitioners to provide a minimum of 24 hours a year of pro bono service to those who can't afford it.

The Pro Bono Prison Project venture was signed and launched on Friday in Cape Town, during the handover of the 2003 Prison Report compiled by the Law Society of South Africa.

"This is an historic event... attorneys from Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London, Umtata, Kimberly, Upington, and Kuruman... discussed and debated this commitment to obligatory pro bono service," said Taswell Papier, president of the Cape Law Society, which represented the eastern, northern and western Capes.

He said the decision was unanimously adopted in 2002, with the advocates at the Cape Bar adopting a similar rule.

Women and children to get priority

The Law Society of South Africa also unanimously adopted the resolution supporting obligatory pro bono service, encouraging the remaining provincial law societies to follow.

On October 31 2003, the rule was promulgated and published in the Government Gazette.

Papier said: "Today, we commit our members to the prison project.

"This will focus on awaiting-trial prisoners, with priority being given to women and children."

He said thousands of people were in prisons, awaiting trial, with many of them unrepresented because they could not afford the fees.

Papier said that, for example, many prisoners were unaware of their legal options, such as plea-bargaining.

"With the intervention of lawyers, bail can be fixed or reduced in deserving cases, and the prison population significantly reduced," he said, describing the initiative as contributing to "re-defining the soul of our legal profession".

- SAPA