Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has revealed that it provided legal aid to 77 individuals during the first six months of this year.
The latest statistics published by AGO reveals that legal aid was provided mostly in cases involving minors. As such, AGO provided legal aid to 77 individuals involved in 109 cases, out of which were 40 minors involved in criminal cases. The statistics also show that the AGO provided legal aid to 15 individuals aged 18-30 years, 18 individuals aged 31-50 years, and 4 individuals aged 51 years and above. Legal aid was also provided to 16 foreigners in the first six months.
The Child Rights Protection Act dictates that the state provide legal aid to minors if no representative is assigned to them. AGO provided legal aid to minors in cases involving theft, death, assault, drugs, and child sexual abuse. 16 of the cases in the first six months were related to drug-related crimes, and 14 cases were regarding assault.
Additionally, AGO provided legal aid to individuals above 18 years of age that were mostly involved in drug cases. As such, legal aid were provided for 31 drug cases and 22 child sexual abuse cases.
The state is legally obliged to provide legal aid for defendants that cannot afford an attorney. However, legal aid was not provided to nine individuals despite their request, as they failed to meet the criteria.