para-legal volunteer
Para-legal volunteers (PLVs) are members of the public, such as teachers, students, anganwadi workers or retired employees, trained by the Legal Services Authorities to spread legal awareness and help people reach legal aid. They work in legal aid clinics, police stations, jails and villages, and refer cases to the District or Taluk Legal Services Authority.
PLVs are not lawyers and cannot appear in court or give paid advice. Their role comes from the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 and NALSA's scheme for para-legal volunteers, and it supports the constitutional promise of equal justice and free legal aid in Article 39A.
Example
A para-legal volunteer at the jail legal aid clinic helped the undertrial apply for a legal aid lawyer to file his bail application.
In Indian law
- Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987
- Article 39A, Constitution of India (equal justice and free legal aid)
See also
legal aid · lok adalat · pro bono
Read more in the study notes
- Clinical legal education (Legal Education and Research Methodology)
- Integrated methods: multi-method research, action research and feminist legal research (Legal Education and Research Methodology)