Table of Contents
Legal Aid Society
The Legal Aid Society is a not-for-profit non-governmental organization that was registered on the 19th of November, 2013 under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid, former Chief Justice of Sindh and former Supreme Court Judge, founded the organization with the main objective of serving marginalized and underprivileged communities to reduce challenges in accessing justice. Over the last five years of operations, Legal Aid Society has spread its operations to 13 judicial districts in the province of Sindh.
The head office of Legal Aid Society is situated in Karachi and operations are conducted through 6 district offices located in Hyderabad, Sukkur, Larkana, Khairpur, Sanghar, Shaheed Benazirabad. In the short span since its inception, it has gained recognition regionally and internationally as one of the key professional organizations working in the domains of law, justice, and development.
The mission of the Legal Aid Society
The Legal Aid Society is a not for profit organization which has a mission to connect vulnerable and disempowered end-users of justice with effective and expedient services for the delivery of justice. LAS starts by listening to the voices of the vulnerable and disempowered within the legal system and combines their needs with the values of equity, fairness, and inclusion to change the way in which we view and tackle present-day challenges facing the attainment of justice in our society.
The organization adopts a two-pronged approach within the larger framework of access to justice in Pakistan;
- The first aspect of programming is to provide direct assistance on a case-by-case and individualized basis through the provision of legal representation; akin to plugging in gaps in the provision of legal aid.
- The second aspect of programming is aimed at systems level repair through the legal empowerment approach, which seeks to increase knowledge of law amongst common users for effectuating more access and change within the surrounding legal ecosystem.