-Persistent non-support, abandonment, domestic violence dominate cases
By Mark N. Mengonfia-mmenginfia@gmail.com
The Association of Female Lawyers of Liberia (AFELL) has resolved over 273 Gender based violence cases against women and vulnerable children in the year 2018, AFELL’s President Atty. Vivian Neal has revealed in Monrovia.
She AFELL used its legal aid program to resolve 245 cases through mediation, while 28 were settled through legal representation before the courts.
Atty. Neal named persistent non-support, abandonment, domestic violence, and Child custody as some of the cases handled during the period and noted that these cases were resolved on a free-of-charge basis with support from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
The AFELL President said due to the importance attached to legal education and information, her Association has held series of training programs on sexual and gender based violence and other international instruments that support the rights of women and children in the Country.
She lauded UN Women for the overwhelming support to the crafting and validation of the Legal Aid Policy, promising AFELL’s continuous support to gender equality especially women rights in all sectors of the society.
Meanwhile, UN Women Project Officer Kofi Ireland, speaking at the validation conference, said UN women takes access to justice seriously as it protects and maintains peace and stability of any Nation.
Liberia’s Minister of Justice, Cllr. Musa Dean has described the Legal-Aid policy of Liberia as a significant document that will positively impact both the locals and government actors.
Minister Dean speaking in simple Liberian English said once the policy is approved, it will ensure access to justice for all Liberians irrespective of status in society.
According to the Justice Minister, court dockets are over-crowded due to pre-trial detention, an action he said Legal Aid personnel will help minimize this problem across the Court.
He said the Liberian government will support the full implementation of the Legal Aid policy so that ordinary Liberians and public officials accused of committing crimes can be represented in a court of jurisdiction.
Minister Musa Dean was speaking at a one-day validation Conference on the Legal Aid policy of Liberia. It was organized by the Ministry of Justice in collaboration with the Association of Female Lawyers of Liberia, the Carter Center and UN Women.
The Justice Minister however called would be beneficiaries of Legal Aid not to misuse the opportunity afforded them to breach the laws with notion that Legal Aid personnel will come to their aid.