More than 500 matters pass through Legal Aid Clinic annually

Aug 05, 2017 News

…but hinterland reach limited, says Managing Attorney

In excess of 500 matters are dealt with by the Guyana Legal Aid Clinic on an annual basis. These matters include: divorce, custody cases, division of property, among several others.

Ms. Shellon Boyce, Managing Attorney of the Guyana Legal Aid Clinic.

This is according to Managing Attorney of the Legal Aid Clinic, Ms. Shellon Boyce, who revealed that since the entity is not confined to defending criminal matters, over the years its attorneys have also been extending their expertise to civil matters as well.
The objective of the Legal Aid Clinic is to provide free or subsidised legal advice, and representation to people who cannot afford to pay for an attorney. Among its many clients are children who have come in conflict with the law. On average, 60 cases pass through the Clinic on a monthly basis. Legal representation in this regard has been a keen focus of the entity.
But according to Boyce, despite diligent efforts, there are some limitations.
“As it is now, the only major challenge that we have is to access the children who are in courts in hinterland locations. There is a court in Mabaruma; we don’t go there because we don’t go to that district. Unless something is done there, I can’t say what representation they receive,” said Boyce, who has for the past three years taken pride in representing the vulnerable of society.
“There is more to being just an attorney, not only to serve as you are mandated to by the oath, but also, because we [at Legal Aid] have the direct interaction with organisations such as the Rights of the Child Commission [RCC], we find that there is more to being an attorney,” said Boyce.
She added, “It is by choice, you are not forced to work here, but because you want to embrace that human rights aspect…at least at the end of the day you feel you are doing a bit more. Of course, those who are willing, who want to be of service to the vulnerable can do so…you are still an attorney, which you have been called to the Bar to do, but you have chosen to represent only a certain section of the society, those who are poor, those who don’t have access to a private attorney because of their financial status.”
The Board-operated Legal Aid Clinic is sustained with a subvention from Government and additional support from donor agencies such as USAID, UNICEF and the Canadian Association. The organisation, which first opened its doors in 1994, currently reaches as far as Berbice and Essequibo.
“In addition to our staff, we also have volunteers, attorneys who are in private practice, and who volunteer their services to the clinics. They indicate to the Clinic that they will do work pro bono and we give cases to them,” said the Managing Attorney.
Through collaboration with RCC, the Clinic has been adding to its mandate to represent children at no cost. According to Boyce, “the advantage of our partnership with the Rights of the Child Commission is that we physically go to the Sophia Holding Centre to meet and advise youths.”
The Clinic also reaches out to youths held at the Timehri prison and the New Opportunity Corps [NOC]. Boyce however noted that “the most we do for NOC is advise them and appeals are done if necessary.” But according to her, “in the event that a child did not pass through the Sophia Holding facility, their parents can always come in and talk with us.”
Through its collaboration with the RCC, the Clinic since 2015 has been gaining financial support from UNICEF to defend children in conflict of the law. But according to Boyce, “even when the agreement [funding] comes to an end with RCC, we will continue to represent them as we have done in the past.”