ONE OF BARBADOS’ most significant social initiatives is in danger of losing its potency because of inadequate funding.
The legal aid scheme, which provides a system of free legal services to people of insufficient means for civil and criminal matters has, for the last 18 months, been finding it difficult to pay lawyers for handling their cases.
Two major fallouts from this are the impact on the finances of young lawyers, in particular, and less representation of people who could least afford counsel.
The situation deteriorated to the point that last June the Bar Association of Barbados wrote the scheme’s administrators, Community Legal Services, outlining their concerns and the impact slow payment was having on lawyers.
Please read the full story in today’s Sunday Sun, or in the eNATION edition.
