Thursday, as part of the official launch of the Phase III of the legal assistance program, Pierre Richard Casimir, Minister of Justice and Public Security in the presence of Me Jules, President of the Court of Cassation, Me Carlos Hercules, Dean of the Bar Association of Port-au-Prince, Me Clamé-Ocnam Daméus, Government Commissioner, Me Bernard St-Vil, the Dean Court of First Instance of Port-au-Prince and Luc Coté, Representative of the Minustah, has announced that four new legal assistance offices for the most disadvantaged people, will soon be added to the 9 other offices already operating across the country.
Recall that legal assistance program conducted by the Ministry of Justice and the Bar of Port-au-Prince with the support of the Minustah, aims to ensure access to justice to the poor by offering them for free a lawyer's services, particularly in the cases of persons in detention. This program also allows litigants to find free legal consultations in civil, commercial and labor matter.
The Minister Casimir also announced that special attention will be given to issues relating to women and children, in the framework of legal assistance. Moreover, he invited the police and "parquetiers" to better qualify the offenses of which they have knowledge, to avoid resorting to preventive detention in cases that do not deserve it.
The Minister of Justice also confirmed that a draft legal assistance law is currently being drafted and will be submitted to the vote of the next Parliament. The draft prepared by the former Minister of Justice, Me René Magloire, will allow the expansion and institutionalization of legal assistance. Note that the budget of the Ministry of Justice already has a section reserved for legal assistance, which did not exist before, but the passing of a law on legal assistance, would enable this program to have funds and much more means.
For his part, Me. Carlos Hercule welcomed the smooth running of the legal assistance program despite some constraints faced by legal framers and stressed that such assistance extends from custody until the Court of Cassation.
