and any person who wishes to apply for legal aid for the purposes of such a remedy may apply to the Director. to assist the Director, subject to the direction of the Director, in respect of applications for legal aid in the district or territory concerned. “Lawyers, as is the case in the public, have a strong impression that corruption in general is on the rise. The majority of lawyers believe that corruption in the judiciary has not increased or decreased in recent years,” the report said. A significant number of lawyers have advised their clients not to turn to the courts because of high legal fees, although they have confidence in the country`s court system. Where legal aid is applied for by a person acting as a representative for a deceased estate or trust, or by a person who is legally incapable and that representative is able to initiate or defend proceedings in that capacity, the Director may grant legal aid to that estate, to a person incapable of trusting or to legal capacity if, In its opinion: (a)the representative concerned has sufficient grounds for: initiating or defending the procedure; and (b)the funds of the estate, trust or incapable person are insufficient to enable the representative concerned to use the services of an administrator. May provide legal aid in civil and criminal matters to persons whose resources are insufficient to enable them to appoint lawyers to assist and represent them; and to deal with information technology issues thereto.BE adopted by the National Assembly of the Republic of Namibia as follows:-1. Definitions In this Act, unless the context indicates otherwise, “Director” means the Director of Legal Aid appointed in accordance with section 3; `legal aid` means legal aid as referred to in Section 2; `lower court` means any court or tribunal constituted under the provisions of the Courts of First Instance Act, 1944 (Act No. 32 1944), including a District Labour Court established by section 15 of the Labour Act 1992 (Act No. 6 of 1992); [The definition of “lower court” is established by Act No.
17 of 2000. The Labour Act No. 6 of 1992 was replaced by the Labour Act No. 11 of 2007; Article 16 of Law No 11 of 2007 provides that `[t]he reference to a provision of the earlier Law shall be read as if it were a reference to the corresponding provision of this Law. to the extent possible.] `Minister` means the Minister of Justice; “lawyer” means a lawyer within the meaning of section 1 of the Lawyers Act (Act No. 15 of 1995); [Definition of “practitioner” replaced by Act No. 17 of 2000] “prescribe” or “prescribe” means to prescribe or prescribe by regulation; “This Act” includes the provisions made under this Act.2. Scope of legal aid 1.Legal aid shall include: (-a)assistance provided by an administrator, including assistance normally provided in steps preceding or ancillary to proceedings or in concluding or enforcing a settlement with a view to avoiding or terminating proceedings; and (b)representation before a court.
(2) Subject to the provisions of this Act: (a) The fact that the assistance or representation is provided by means of legal aid shall not affect the relationship or rights of the lawyer and the client, or any privileges arising from that relationship; (b)the rights conferred by this Law on a person with legal assistance are without prejudice to the rights or obligations of other parties to proceedings or to the principles according to which the discretion of a court is normally exercised.3. Performance of the duties of the Director and Legal Counsel 1. Subject to section 12, the Director shall, under this Act, grant legal aid to a person the necessary legal aid when the person grants legal aid to a person, unless the matter in question is assigned by the Director to a practitioner in accordance with section 6. 2. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other Act, the Director or a legal aid adviser acting in accordance with the general or specific instructions of the Director shall, for the purpose of granting legal aid to a person referred to in paragraph 1 in a case: (a)has the right to perform all acts normally performed by a lawyer in the exercise of his functions in a similar case. including all acts which, by law, must be performed by only one lawyer;(b)have the same right to be heard by a court as a lawyer.5. Right to have the hearing of the legal aid assistant Any legal aid assistant, even if he is not a lawyer, has the right to appear before any person receiving legal aid and to represent him in civil or criminal proceedings before a district court.6. Advocate 1.The Director may assign to any advocate any matter for which he has granted legal aid under this Act and the administrator shall be entitled to the appropriate prescribed fees for his services. 2.
The Director may at any time waive the use of an advocate to whom a matter has been assigned, unless legal aid has been granted within the meaning of section 12. (3) A legal adviser to whom a matter has been referred under this Act shall not request or receive payments or services from his or her client assisted by the lawyer or from any person acting on behalf of the client in relation to the matter; or (b) receive a gift or reward of any kind from its legally supported client or any person on such client`s behalf to pay for the practitioner`s services. [Paragraph 3 inserted by Act No. 17 of 2000] 7. Legal Aid Committees 1. The Minister may: (a)establish a legal aid committee for any district or region he designates; or (b)appoint an official of the Ministry of Justice to assist the Director, under the direction of the Director, in applying for legal aid in the district or area concerned. 2. The legal aid committee shall be composed of as many members as the Minister may designate and appoint by the Minister. (3) A member of a committee who is not a public servant shall receive the allowance, which may be determined by the Minister after consultation with the Public Service Commission.8. Legal aid in the High Court 1.Where a lower court hears a defendant in the High Court and that lower court considers that the defendant does not have sufficient resources to appoint a lawyer to represent him, the court shall require that person to grant legal aid to the Director for the purposes of the proceedings. (2) [Paragraph 2 abolished by Act No. 17 of 2000] 9.
Powers and duties of the Director in criminal matters (1)The Director (a)[paragraph (a) deleted by Act No. 1. 17 of 2000](b)may grant legal aid to any person against whom a court has made a recommendation under Article 8, paragraph 1, or Article 9, paragraph 1. 2. Any person charged with a criminal offence may apply to the Director for legal aid and if the Director is of the opinion that: (-a)having regard to all the circumstances of the case, it is in the interests of justice that such person be lawfully represented; and (b)the person does not have sufficient resources to appoint a lawyer to represent him, the Director may grant him legal aid. [Paragraph 2 is amended by Act 17 of 2000 to correct incorrect paragraph numbering; Subsection (2) was originally numbered subsection (3).] 11.