Page 19 - SCAT Rural Voice II - 35 Stories for 35 Years

Access to Justice in south Africa is guaranteed under section 34 of the constitution, which provides that everyone has the right to have any dispute that can be resolved by the application of law, decided in a fair public hearing before a court or, where appropriate, another independent and impartial tribunal or forum. everyone is also equal before the law and has the right to equal protection and benefit of the law. However, most south Africans cannot afford legal representation and thus in effect do not have access to justice. Community advice offices have a history of providing legal advice and rights based information, informing people on where and how to access services offered by government departments and making sure people access those services.
scAT has been supporting paralegals at local development agencies (LDAs) since its inception as a small grantmaker. scAT is committed to ensuring that community- based paralegals have a sustainable financial future for the valuable service they provide to people who are unable to afford legal assistance, and do not have an understanding of the legislation that protects their rights, nor ways to action these rights. We see our role as continuing to find independent sources of funding for the sector, building the organisations we support as accountable transparent LDAs in their communities and encouraging local philanthropy to sustain these organisations and other community initiatives.
RuRal Voice ii: 35 stories for 35 years
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Access to Justice