WHY PAN EXISTS
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| Stakeholders discuss the paralegal Aid Policy |
The
overwhelming majority of Zambia's population does not have access to legal aid
and also cannot access the services of the relevant justice institutions of the
state. The justice gap has been created by an inadequate number of lawyers as
Zambia currently has 850[1] lawyers
registered with the Law Association of Zambia to service a population of about
15 million. This situation has caused backlog of both civil and criminal cases
in court. In the face of inadequate numbers of lawyers, paralegals have emerged
to fill the gap.
Legal education and
information is not provided in a structured way to the communities and legal
advice and assistance in police stations and prisons is largely absent. Many
suspects and prisoners are detained for lengthy periods of time and in inhumane
conditions in overcrowded police cells and prisons. Zambia currently has a
prison capacity of 8,500 but it has a prison population of more than 19,000
prisoners[2].
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