Mezivolu T Therieh, Chief Judicial Magistrate and Deputy Secretary, DLSA speaking during the seminar on ‘legal awareness and para legal volunteers training’ held on February 22. (Morung Photo)
Kohima: “Jail is a reformative and correctional place where you should plan and decide to become better persons. We believe that one day when you are released from the jail, you will also serve the society,” said Mezivolu T Therieh, Chief Judicial Magistrate and Deputy Secretary, District Legal Service Authority (DLSA), during the seminar on ‘legal awareness and para legal volunteers training’ held on February 22. The Kohima District Legal Service Authority at the Kohima District Jail organized the seminar.
James Yalie, Panel Lawyer, chaired the programme while the Jailor, District Jail Kohima, gave a welcome address. In the three presentations of the seminar, Mezivolu T Therieh spoke on ‘Access to Justice for All’, James Sheqi, Panel Lawyer on ‘Rights of Prisoners’ and ‘Para-legal Volunteers’ (PLV) was shared by Alemwapang Ao, Trainer of Trainees, PLV.
Mezivolu Therieh shared the various barriers to access justice such as illiteracy, social backwardness, physical, geographical, social, mental and psychological incapacity that denies justice to common people. Those whose income are below 1 lakh, victim of trafficking, mass disasters, ethnic violence, caste atrocities, industrial disasters, women, child juvenile can access legal services. Mezivolu also concluded that to access legal justice is not just the job of the judiciary but that, “Every right thinking citizen should be a part of the legal service authorities.”
While speaking on the rights of prisoners, Joshua Sheqi also shared a few points on the rights of the person when arrested such as the right to remain silent, right to call a relative or friend, right not to be handcuffed, banning of third degree torture. Some of the rights that prisoners can avail are free legal aid, medical aid, humane treatment, right to live in hygienic conditions with physical exercises, equitable remuneration when released, right to complain and express views of ill-treatment or abuse inside the jail.
Alemwapang Ao asserted that the two objectives of legal services are to access justice for all and para-legal volunteers and that the job of the PLVs is to identify the problems of the inmates and report it to the legal service authorities.
A written test was conducted for the selection of PLV among the inmates followed by discussion hour. Legal service authority seeks to promote free and competent legal service to the weaker section of the society so that justice is not denied to any citizen due to any disabilities, and to organize lok adalats for the promotion of justice on equal opportunity by the legal system.
