Author name: IBJ India

Ajay Verma Advocate speaking on Bail On December 4, 2014 the IBJ India team visited Central Tihar Jail No. 6 in New Delhi to interact with jail inmates and conduct a Legal Awareness Camp inside the Mulahiza Ward (i.e. First Time Offenders Ward). The team consists of Ajay Verma (Fellow & Advocate), Pankhuri A. Mehndiratta (Advocate) and Trishna Mohan Kriplani (Advocate). The Tihar Jail #6 houses a total of 642 (exclusively women) inmates according to its latest figures, among which there are 29 foreign nationals. A staggering 73% of the entire prison population (472 prisoners) is under trial. This statistic once again sheds light on the issue of overcrowding almost all prisons in India with mainly under trial population. The rules under the Delhi Jail Manual and Delhi Prisons Rules (2000) permit women inmates to keep their children with them until they attain the age of six years. In line with this provision, there are 44 children who are housed in the Tihar Jail # 6 complex as well. The session was interactive and was received very positively by the inmates and prison administration alike. The IBJ India team identified a number of critical issues that needed intervention. Firstly, there are some issues involving legal documents of prisoners allegedly being stopped from leaving the premises by jail authorities when they are transferred to court. The prison’s Superintendent also noticed the jail inmates’ concern regarding this issue. Secondly, IBJ India noted a deep-rooted sense of anxiety amongst inmates about the law procedures where the lawyers appointed by the Legal Aid services are perceived to be ‘sarkari’ (government) lawyers. In prisoners’ perceptions, these lawyers collude with state authorities to make them punish more stringently. As Legal Aid services are ultimately government funded, inmates were interested to find out whether they are inclined towards working in favor of the government and against inmates’ interests. Prisoners were then properly informed about the structure of Legal Aid of Government of India, Delhi State Legal Services Authority and also about IBJ’s work in providing access to effective lawyers. Pankhuri Mehndiratta, Advocate interacting with females in custody The IBJ India team identified certain cases that required its intervention and has taken them up to be pursued by IBJ’s pro bono task force that actively works in trial courts. IBJ India continues to benefit from the support of the prison administration and strives to ensure the minimization of torture and prison overcrowding. The employed strategy here is early access to legal counsel and advocating the right to bail. Question Answer Session

Ms. Bijoya Chnada, advocate for IBJ Justicemakers, introducing the workshop to participants On the 1st of June 2014, IBJ India organised a one day workshop dealing with the contentious issue of ‘Custodial Violence – its Prevention and Remedies‘ in the state of West Bengal. The workshop took place at the Indian Institute of Training and Development (IITD) in Joka, Kolkata and focused primarily on raising awareness and sensitising the various stakeholders of the criminal justice system in West Bengal. The various sessions held throughout the day sought out experts, social workers, direct functionaries and other key stakeholders in the correctional home system. It endeavoured to cull out a comprehensive reflection of the state of affairs prevailing within the confines of the correctional homes that abet torture. The sessions aimed to improve the competence of the prison administration and correctional home settings in West Bengal in the hope to see through the prevention of custodial torture. The training sessions saw the appearance of stalwarts in the prison administration system such as Mr. Adhir Sharma, IPS (Additonal Director General of Prisons and Inspector General of West Bengal Correctional Services). Moreover, Prof. Sujao Bhadra made presentations to address the issues, prospects and challenges that are being confronted by the correctional services system in West Bengal. Prof. Sujato Bhadra answering participants’ queries The prisons of the eastern Indian state of West Bengal are currently governed by a very progressive legislation called the West Bengal Correctional Services Act, 1992. Enacted w.e.f 2000, the act seeks to impart human dignity, rights to a fair trial and the due process of law, entitlements to the access to justice and after care services to the prisoners. The act seeks to turn the aim of incarceration from being retributive to reformative. In doing so, it suggests education, sports and cultural activities as avenues to achieve such reformation. However, the implementation of this progressive legislation is hindered by a few problems such as overcrowded prisons, which consists a large number of undertrial prisoners. Other issues include: the lack of legal awareness on part of the undertrials, indigence and lack of familial support. More specific to the correctional homes in West Bengal are the concerns around the high number of Bangladeshi nationals serving prison terms who are unable to be repatriated due to lack of documentation. Another major problem is the lack of an effective after-release system consequently leading to a situation where prisoners who are convicted for life term offences are affected far more heavily by such incarceration in comparison to other prison inmates. This typically is the case as most life term prisoners leave the prison with scant savings, poor mental and physical health and almost no means to reintegrate themselves into the mainstream society due to a prolonged deprivation. They have no form of health or unemployment benefits and have a significantly lower chance of finding a permanent job due to the label of being a convict. The workshop also delved deeper into other issues such as custodial torture and early access to counsel as an effective preventive strategy to impart dignity and integrity to those still in incarceration. The workshop was able to bring to the forefront a diverse range of issues and further enlighten the prison authorities by building awareness, doing training and having discussions around the ways to deal with the challenges they face in a more effective and uniform manner. Mr. Adhir Sharma, IPS -Additonal Director General of Prisons and Inspector General of West Bengal Correctional Services, interacting with the participants

IBJ’s program in India kicked off in 2008 with an International Criminal Defense Training in New Delhi. Four Supreme Court justices including the Chief Justice and 16 High Court judges and over 130 Indian legal aid lawyers, representing 26 of the 28 states in India, participated in the event, with the San Francisco Public Defender’s office providing pro-bono training. Donate now to provide much needed support. Quick Facts: Future challenges:As the second most populous country in the world, developing effective justice in India poses almost unique challenges. Despite the strong basis of the Indian legal system, too many of the protections of Indian law go unenforced. Police routinely resort to torture and other inhuman methods of extracting information. Under trial persons spend years languishing in pretrial detention. With the development agenda straining to meet a myriad of needs, few resources are directed towards developing the rule of law. IBJ hopes to consolidate the New Delhi Defender Resource Center and establish a new DRC to address the country’s growing needs while continuing capacity building and training. Our strong network on the ground, and great potential for expansion, make us optimistic about our future in India.

IBJ India Team at the Awareness Camp On the 13th of August 2014, a team of IBJ India lawyers visited Tihar Jail #7. The jail is part of Asia’s largest prison complex, housing young offenders who are in conflict with the law and are between the ages of 18 to 21 years. The jail house as many as 862 adolescent inmates, most of whom are being tried for petty offences and awaiting their release on bail. An overwhelming number of detainees lack the basic awareness of whether or not their offence is bailable. This in turn leads to overcrowding in jails and detention centers all over the country. Under the Indian Criminal and Procedural Laws, young offenders (between 18 to 21 years) are entitled to the same protection of law and access to fair trial as an adult offender. Section 167 of the Code of Criminal Procedure entitles inmates to a statutory bail in cases where no charge sheet has been filed against them by the police authorities. The statutory right to bail accrues within a period of 60 days upon certain administrative failures. This occurs in the failure of the police agency to file a charge sheet for an offense punishable for up to 10 years in prison, as well as when charge sheets fail to be filed for a case within 90 days, punishable with imprisonment for more than 10 years and up to life. Young undertrial prisoners participating in the Awareness Camp Though most of the inmates were between the ages of 18 to 21 years, there were still some who claimed to be under the age of 18 years and had a dearth of documents to prove their true age. The team of IBJ India lawyers consisting of IBJ India Fellow Mr. Ajay Verma, Mr. Ajay Raghav, Pankhuri A. Mehndiratta, along with advocates and interns, were able to identify a few inmates who were languishing in the prison without any legal representation due to reasons such as indigence and lack of legal awareness. IBJ fellow Mr. Ajay Verma led an interactive legal awareness session on the topic of ‘The Rights of the Undertrial Prisoners’, ‘The Provisions of Bail,’ and ‘The Need to Ascertain the Age of the Detainees at the Time of Arrest.’ These sessions were conducted through the means of an age memo in order to rule out the possibility of juveniles being tried by the adult criminal justice system. Ajay Verma, IBJ Legal Fellow, speaking with an inmate The representatives of IBJ India were received warmly by the prison authorities and inmates alike, and saw a forthcoming response from the gathering of about 100-120 inmates who were eager to receive support in any manner possible. Legal awareness camps and workshops such as this one go a long way in empowering the inmates through information and awareness about their legal rights. Such awareness raising activities also dissminate information regarding the course of the trial and the ideal course of interaction between individuals in the criminal justice system.

Intern Solange Pittet sits with IBJ India Legal Fellow Gulika Reddy for International Bridges to Justice’s first official podcast! Visiting Geneva for the annual curators meeting of the Global Shapers Community, Gulika was able to meet with the IBJ Geneva team and share some of her personal experience working as a criminal defense lawyer in India.  Hear all about her work with IBJ, most challenging cases, and hopes for the future: IBJ Gulika Interview Read more about Gulika and her work here: https://ibj.org/Team_India.html

Karkardooma Court When I arrived at Karkardooma Courthouse, Mr. Bali was speaking with a man intently, smiling and holding up a finger to me, indicating that I was to wait just a second while he continued to address the man.  I had met Mr. Bali once before, and knew him to be kind and dedicated to his work.  This seemed to be an example of that. I took the time to look around.  Each floor of the courthouse had a large central area where people waited nervously for a trial or hearing to begin.  It reminded me of a train station, with benches of attached seats, full of couples or men with motorcycle helmets on their lap.  One row of seats contained four generations of a family.  A child ran in circles, giggling, not realizing his young parents’ nervousness at whatever judicial decision awaited them. Mr. Bali joined me, carrying a stuffed folder printed with a Delhi Legal Services emblem that read “Access to Justice for All.”  He walked me through the halls, and up a few flights of stairs, stopping to shake hands and share a laugh with several groups of other lawyers, many of them half his age.  Mr. Bali has been practicing law for nearly 20 years, and takes on both private civil and criminal cases, as well as several pro bono cases each month for IBJ India Duty Lawyers Project.  One of his private criminal matters was about to begin, so he led me into the courtroom and directed me to a chair in the back where I could watch him examine a witness. His client was being tried for murder, and this witness, the client’s wife, was to provide valuable testimony that in fact the client had been caring for a sick family member during the time the murder occurred, across the city from the murder location.  She was a very slight woman, and was visibly nervous—she would answer a question Mr. Bali asked her, and then move the headscarf of her yellow sari between her lips, holding it in place while she pulled another part of the sheer fabric forward to cover her face.  She did this many times during her testimony.  Outside the courtroom, Mr. Bali met with the witness and a crowd of others, including elderly family members and the two daughters of the witness and the accused client.  He spoke with them in Hindi, giving them details about what to expect next, and listening intently to their questions so he could answer them with what seemed like comforting words.  When he had said goodbye, we walked brisquely to another part of the courthouse.  That had been Session Court, Mr. Bali explained, where more serious offenses are tried.  Now we will go before a magistrate for the bail hearing. Mr. Bali was representing a man in a bail hearing for his work as a Duty Lawyer.  The bail hearing was not for an hour, so we had some tea, and sat down outside of a courtroom to wait for the hearing to begin.  I asked him about his work—why had he become a lawyer?  He laughed at the simplicity of the question.  So many reasons.  Everyone deserves proper representation, he said.  Doctors help pain and suffering of people, and I believe that is what we do as lawyers—it is our higher reason for being a lawyerl; I try to help people who have a chance to be rehabilitated.  Mr. Bali spends nearly every weekday at court, he told me—that is why I only answer your emails late at night!  It was the only time he had to check his email.  He represents people in two or three cases each day, between his private practice and legal aid work. As part of the DPL, Mr. Bali visits Jail numbers 8 and 9 in Delhi on Saturdays.  He meets with accused persons, and represents those eligible in bail application hearings—many incarcerated people have the right to file bail applications and be released on bail due to the nature of the offense (called a bailable offense, often reserved for less serious crimes).   A release from poor conditions in jail means that accused persons can try to make some income and be with their family before their trial begins, but many people do not know they have this right.  Mr. Bali arrives at the jail at 2:30 p.m. each Saturday, often staying until 7:00 p.m. to get through the line of incarcerated people who wish to meet with him.  He took on 19 bail application cases during the month of March. As the hearing nears, we move from the waiting area to the crowded courtroom.  We watch several cases before Mr. Bali’s is heard.  In one, an old man with sunken cheeks and a beard dyed with red henna is speaking emphatically to the judge, and an older woman, his mother, is speaking over him.  He had suddenly kicked out his wife and two daughters, and the entire courtroom erupted in laughter when the older woman described his recent erratic behavior.  The judge smiled, made a quick decision, and moved on.  Another case involved a father and a police person.  The father had submitted a missing persons report for his daughter, claimed to have paid a bribe to the police officer, and the complaint indicated that the police had done nothing to investigate his daugter’s disappearance.  The policeman said the daughter was an adult, and therefore he was not obligated to search for her.  Mr. Bali nodded as the judge spoke.  Later, he told me that the judge informed the men that he did not have jurisdiction over the case, but asked the police officers to produce the mandatory files kept on these matters.  In this way, Mr. Bali commented, he used proper procedure to hold the policeman accoutable.  I respected Mr. Bali’s respect for proper procedure When the same judge heard Mr. Bali’s case, he listened to Mr. Bali’s arguments, and granted the client

On 07th December, IBJ India conducted a whole-day roundtable for welfare officers in Tihar Jail. Titled ”Role of Welfare Officers in Ensuring Access to Justice and Legal Aid”, the roundtable was the first of its kind. Under the guidance of Mr. Ajay Verma, Advocate, Senior Fellow IBJ, a group of people were gathered to discuss, share experiences and gain knowledge on the topic. One of the main outcomes was the acknowledgement of the need to bridge the gap between custody and welfare- officers. The lack of coordination affects the well-being of the inmates and their access to basic amenities and legal awareness. Six welfare officers, four law interns, IBJ India’s Duty Lawyers Mr. Shiv Kumar Dwivedi and Mr. Ashwani Kumar Bali, and Principal Law Officer of Delhi Prisons, Mr. Sunil Gupta attended the event. One of the Welfare Officers talking about the basic duties in his profession.  Session one of the day was held by Mr. Ajay Verma. He introduced the methodology that IBJ india uses in capacity building of prison administration by conducting trainings and awareness events for prisoners as well as prison officials. The participants of the roundtable introduced themselves with name, jail number and years in the profession. Most of them had more than ten years of experience, but others were newly started. They shared general duties, challenges and experiences from the profession. Mr. Ajay Verma initiated the roundtable by giving a brief introduction of International Bridges to Justice. In 2002, 7 welfare officers were posted in Tihar Jail. On behalf of the Department of Social Welfare, their role is to provide basic facilities of all aspects to the prisoners. It was important for IBJ India to highlight how the welfare officers are the backbone of prison management.Prior to 2002, only custodial officials worked in the jail, with custodial and not welfare-related tasks. As pointed out by one of the welfare officers: ”If you want to move a vehicle, you need a person to drive. First then it will move. In the same way you can not imagine welfare activities without welfare officers in the prison.” The session continued with the welfare officers talking about their specific duties. ”Our first duty is to counsel newly admitted prisoners on their very first day in prison”, one of the officers said. He pointed out that the inmate typically is depressed and unaware of his rights. ”We interact, counsel and help him to adjust to the prison”. He also explained how the welfare officers try to enable the inmates to demand their rights by providing information on legal aid, rights and procedures. They are doing a wonderful job with constantly providing information about legal concerns. Ultimately, the welfare officers are changing the life of the inmates. At the same time, there is always a gap between theory and practice. IBJ India wanted to identify challenges the officers face in their everyday life, and spent some time discussing this. As expected, a main problem is limited access to resources. One of the officers kindly pointed out that when the number of inmates in a jail is more than a thousand, it is impossible for one person to go to each and every corner of the wards. This is very frustrating for the officers as they have a big responsibility on their shoulders but they are unable to fulfill their tasks. The lack of resources is closely related to overcrowding. A huge number of undertrial detainees is costing the management a lot of problems when the facilities ment to be used by a thousand people is being used by twice as many. The challenge with overcrowding is one of the reasons why effective legal aid and effective and speedy trials, especially to pretrial detainees is urgently needed. The discussion on lack of resources led the officers to talk about what solutions they use to cope with the problem. For example, they will bring a chair and a mic to one of the wards, gather all the inmates and conduct an awareness session. Instead of simply talking about legal matters, many of them do Question-and Answer-sessions. They answer any question the inmate may have about their case in specific or about legal rights in general. Another thing launched in the prison is related to preventing self-incrimination, by using volunteer prisoners to report about the inmates. For example, if someone is depressed or suicidal, the volunteer prisoner will share this with the welfare officer, which will make the necessary measures for the person, like giving them counseling or admitting them to a psychiatric hospital. A part of the supervision system is also to deploy senior convicts in the new-comer wards, and act as they would in villages, where elders will interact with and advice youngsters. One of the main issues IBJ India wanted to discuss was the perception of jail. We asked the crowd: What do you think the role of a welfare officer is? Is the prison only for custodial purposes or should it also have a reformative function? Everybody agreed that jail is supposed to function like a hospital. The purpose behind a sentence is to cure the convict from the reasons or diseases that made him commit the crime. At the time of release the prisoner should be equipped to be a law obeying person of society. The welfare officers also discussed a main problem in the way jail is perceived. Generally, the custodial officers do not share the conception of prison as reformative, but primarily as a place to do your time and be punished for your crimes. To be a welfare officer the minimum requirement is a Master’s Degree in Social Work, while on the other hand, the custodial officers generally do not have higher education. There is a need to bridge the gap between the officers’ ideas of the functions of jail, and IBJ India will plan a roundtable for this purpose. The last session before lunch was spent on talking about the general lack of legal awareness in India. People

BJ India’s monthly prison legal awareness event was held on Saturday, November 30th. More than 300 inmates attended the session, which lasted for about 2 hours. Representing IBJ India was Mr. Ajay Verma, Advocate and Senior Fellow, and two of the Duty Lawyers, Mr. Shiv Kumar Dwivedi and Mr. Ashwani Kumar Bali. From left: Mr. Shiv Kumar Dwivedi, Duty Lawyer IBJ India. In the middle: Mr Ashwani Kumar Bali, Duty Lawyer, and  Mr. Ajay Verma, Advocate and Senior Fellow IBJ. The awareness workshop was held in the New-Comers Ward of Tihar Jail no. 8 and 9, and followed by an interactive session where Mr. Verma and the lawyers answered questions and shared basic legal knowledge with the prisoners. The New-Comers Ward was chosen because most of the time new inmates don’t know anything about legal aid and procedures. More than 300 new-comers had gathered to attend the awareness workshop. Communication with the judge was one of the first issues to be discussed. Many inmates told us that when they are produced before a magistrate, they will stand in the back of the room and not be allowed to talk to or address the presiding judge. The inmates are frustrated because they want to share their versions and details of the crime, or maybe they want to put before the judge that they have been falsely implicated. Mr. Ajay Verma told the inmates that they have to talk to the judge and say whatever they want about their case. If the accused talks, the judge will listen to him. He adviced the inmates to go to the legal aid centre in their jail and write what they want to tell the judge in a paper, which they will give to the judge in court. Besides this it was also suggested that as the courts are considered temples of justice, the inmates needs to be polite and courtious to the sitting judge. Some time was spent on informing the inmates about the necessity to give any defence evidence they have in their case. The inmates felt it was not fair that the prosecution was giving evidence against them, because they simply did not know their right to do the same. They were also informed about the right to be present during all stages of trial, and that they, at any point, may object or correct information if they feel that it is incorrect, in consultation with their lawyer. The accused can always listen to the answers of the witnesses in their case, and immediately inform their counsel anything about the same. Mr. Verma stressed that they need to have effective commuication with their counsel to effectively defend their case. Mr. Ajay Verma, Advocate and Senior Fellow IBJ, Mr. Ashwani Kumar Bali, Duty Lawyer IBJ India, and Mr. Shiv Kumar Dwivedi, Duty Lawyer IBJ India. Another issue raised by the inmates was that of chargesheets not being filed. The IBJ India Team informed them about the right to bail in non-bailable offences, as stated in Section 437 in the Criminal Procedure Code (Cr.P.C). In non-bailable offences it is on the discretion of the Court to grant bail. But if the police don’t produce the chargesheet within a given amount of time, the accused may request to be released on bail as a matter of right under Section 167 of the Cr.P.C., provided that they are willing to furnish surety. If the sentence of the crime is less than ten years, and the chargesheet has not been filed, the accused is entitled to bail after 60 days of his arrest. In offences punishable above ten years, life imprisonment or capital punishment, the same goes after 90 days. The inmate can go to the legal aid cell in his jail, and write an application stating that it has been 60  or 90 days and that the police has not filed the chargesheet. In these cases, the inmate will usually be granted bail. Interaction with the inmates.  In addition, the lawyers answered questions regarding plea bargaining, as introduced  by the Criminal Law Amendment Act in 2005. Plea bargaining is an agreement between the prosecutor and the accused where the accused will get some sort of concession in exchange of pleading guilty to all or some of the charges against him. Any offender can plead guilty provided that the maximum sentence for the crime is less than seven years, and that the crime was not committed against women or children. Usually, the inmates will think that plea bargaining is acquittal of the charges, when it actually is a conviction with confession. In the session, IBJ India shed light on all sides of plea bargaining. If the accused pleads guilty, he will be registered as a convicted person. Among other things, he will not be able to get a government job. Also, if he is arrested a second time the judge will consider him a habitual offender and, because of this give a harsher punishment. Therefore, it is very important to inform the inmates about all the aspects of plea bargaining. One of the new-comers talking to Mr. Ajay Verma. As expected, many of the new-comers that we met in the New-Comers Ward were accused of petty offences. One of the inmates had been arrested for electricity theft, and was languishing because of lack of legal representation. IBJ India’s Duty Lawyer Mr. Ashwani Kumar Bali took his case and will be filing an appropriate bail application. The lack of knowledge of the right to bail in bailable offences, as prescribed in Section 436 in Cr.P.C is the reason why inmates remain in jail for at least 15-30 days when they are not able to furnish surety. The inmates were also informed about the legal aid centre in their cell and how they can go there to get legal assistance free of cost. They were requested to report to the Superintendent of the Jail whenever any legal aid advocate asks for money. In the last part of the

From 08th to 10th November, IBJ India was in Jodhpur to participate in the conduction of Legal Refresher Course on Pre-Trial Justice. The training was a part of a joint initiative of State Legal Services Authority of Rajasthan (SLSA), Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) and District Legal Services Authority of Jodhpur (DLSA). The workshop focused on capacity building of Legal Aid lawyers working in Jodhpur District Court. About 40 lawyers attended the workshop, and they actively contributed to the discussions and shared their own experiences with the audience. The main goal was to help legal aid lawyers to find solutions to unnecessary and long detentions in police and judicial custody of undertrial people. The course attempts to «… refine courtroom practices towards reaching the high goal of rule of law». The focus was on impacts of incarceration on the prisoner, by discussing and lecturing on due process treatment, strengthening legal aid services, and effective legal interventions by advocates. With the Indian Criminal Procedure Code (Cr.P.C.) as its starting point, the course aimed to increase the lawyers’ procedural knowledge on fair trial, minimizing pre-trial detention, and other crucial parts of legal administration. Some of the female lawyers discussing. The welcome address was held by Secretary in DLSA, Mr. Tan Singh Charan. Thereafter, Ms. Sana Das, Coordinator in CHRI, read out a message from Hon’ble Justice Ajay Rastogi, Chairperson of Rajasthan State Legal Services Authority (RSLSA), which was also part of the reading material handed out to the participants. Mr. Tan Singh Charan then started the first session of the workshop by talking about the importance of providing the accused with a legal aid lawyer. He was followed by Hon’ble Justice Mr Govind Mathur, Judge Rajasthan High Court & Chairman of Rajasthan High Court Legal Services Committee, who emphasized more about various methodology to improve court and legal aid practices to prevent unnecessary detention. Among other things he referred to the Cr.P.C. section 437, which states in what situations bail may be taken in case of non-bailable offenses, and section 49 and 50, which states that (”The arrested person shall not be subjected to more restraint than is necessary to prevent his escape” and that a “person arrested (is) to be informed of grounds of arrest and of right to bail”. One of the speakers was Hon’ble Mr. Justice Gobind Mathur, Judge Rajasthan High Court. Mr. R. K. Saxena, former Inspector General, Rajasthan Prisons and Honorary Consultant with CHRI also contributed to the session, who talked about alternatives to imprisonment in bailable and non-bailable offenses. The participants questions and comments were effectively answered and heard. Mr. Saxena also pointed out how the inequality before law contradicts with the ideal of equality before the law, and referred to undersection 39A in the Indian Constitution, which deals with equal justice and free legal aid. It claims that: ”The State shall secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice, on a basis of equal opportunity, and shall, in particular, provide free legal aid, by suitable legislation or schemes or in any other way, to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities.” Mr. R.K. Saxena sharing his knowledge and experience. The day continued with an introduction of the training by Mr. Ajay Verma, Advocate  representing IBJ India. He talked about general issues lawyers are facing, and screened a movie from the client-lawyer role play held in Jodhpur Central Jail 04th-06th October. This was followed by an active and fruitful discussion from both sides on issues regarding client-lawyer relationship, speedy trial and pre-trial justice. Day 2 of the workshop begun with all of the lawyers introduced themselves, their name, where they are practicing and for how many years they have been practicing. Ajay Verma held a session on illegalities in the criminal justice system and also focused on prisoners’ rights. Thereafter, an interactive game was played,  led by Ms. Abha Joshi, Advocate and Ms. Sugandha Shankar, CHRI. The lawyers were asked about which problems they themselves had been facing in prison. The last session of the day was led by Ms. Abha Joshi, and followed by a panel discussion on arrest, and especially section 41 in the Cr.P.C. which states when the police may arrest without warrant. Teamwork On the third and last day of the workshop, the first session was led by Ms. Abha Joshi on the topic of arrest, bail and remand, bailable offenses and cognizable and non-cognizable offenses, supplemented with Ajay Verma and the rest of the panels contributions and points. In her presentation, Ms. Abha Joshi focused on sections 167 Cr.P.C., “Procedure when investigation cannot be completed in twenty four hours”, Section 70,  which deals with forms of warrants of arrest and duration, section 41, regarding arrest of persons, and sections 43, 44, and 55, regarding procedures of arrest. In the following session the game «my favourite lawyer, my favourite client» was played. Then, some time was spent on discussing legal aid solutions, for example legal aid developments and ethics of the advocates profession. Answering questions, from left to right: Mr. Ajay Verma, Mr. Bora, Mr. Tan Singh, Mr. R.K. Saxena. Overall the training was successful, and the participants expressed satisfaction over the panel and the topics in focus. They also requested more senior lawyers to speak in future events, a feedback we appreciate and will follow up. It is important to underline the importance of these kind of programs as legal aid is an important part of the administration of justice, and we are looking forward to more fruitful lawyer trainings in the near future.

From the 04th to the 06th of October, IBJ India jointly conducted a three-day para-legal training in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. The training was conducted in collaboration with CHRI (Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative), State Legal Service Authority (Rajasthan), and District Legal Service Authority (Jodhpur).The overall goal of this workshop was to train longterm convicts in basic legal issues and procedures, especially relating to pre-trial detention and speedy trial. When trained properly, longterm convicts become in-house legal resources, and they are therefore potential significant resources in jail administration. Their knowledge as para-legals enables them to spread legal awareness and to assist undertrial and freshcomer prisoners in their jail. Mr. Ajay Verma talks to one of the convict. The workshop was titled Saksham Legal Capacity Building Workshop, a name capturing the essence of its goal in the word “Saksham”, translated to “capable” in English. We gathered about 20 literate longterm convicts in the hall of the prison complex in Jodhpur Central Jail. The prisoners participated actively in the sessions and many of them showed a big potential to be future para-legals in the jail. “A 72 years old man serving a lifetime sentence, came up to me and said that this training was the definite highlight of his 22 years of imprisonment. This is my definite most memorable moment of the workshop”, Said Mr. Ajay Verma, Advocate & Fellow IBJ India. Friday the 04th of October was the first day of the workshop and was kicked off with an interactive session, in which the convicts’ knowledge about issues like prisoners’ rights and the right to an effective and speedy trial was mapped. As our previous experience from these kinds of events shows, the inmates usually do not have basic knowledge on these issues. The Superintendent of the Jail, Shri Rakesh Moham, talked about the role of para-legals and prison officers in prison management and reform. Mr. Ajay Verma then talked about IBJ’s work with prisons. The movie “Bol Bosanto” was screened, and followed up with a discussion on the movie’s topic, namely: What is law? Excercise on client-lawyer relationship made the convicts have fun. Day one continued with an interactive session, conducted by Mr. Verma (IBJ India) and Mr. Raja Bagga (CHRI). They explained the rights available during trial, and made the convicts share their own experiences. Certain images of court-,policestation-, and jailscenes were shown, and the inmates were asked to explain what they wereseeing and to share their own stories with the group. Further, Mr. Verma led a session on the importance of a good client-lawyer relationship. This was done by roleplay exercises, for example, half of the convicts were acting clients and the other half were acting lawyers. They used their own experiences to argue their cases. This activity was conducted to find out what the convicts have gone through and what problems they have faced with their lawyers, problems it is less likely that they would have shared face to face with them. Many convicts do not even talk with their lawyers, which often just take their papers without interacting any further with their client. The activity also made the convicts laugh and have some fun in a, at times, heated discussion between the clients and the lawyers. Excercise on client-lawyer relationship made the convicts have fun. The next session on Avadhik Samiksha Samiti was chaired by Shri Mukish, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate. Mr. Rakesh Mohan, Superintendent, Jodhpur Prison was also present as co panelist as both persons are ex-officio representatives of the Periodic Review Committee (PRC). The Committee was created in 1979 with the mandate to ensure that the undertrials’ right to freedom is properly ensured. The Committee is supposed to frequently review the situation of every prisoner awaiting trial. It is thought that giving the para-legals information about the PRC will help them understand their larger role in the delivery of justice for other prisoners and explain to them how they in their role as para-legals can assist in strengthening the Committee. Written excercises were a significant part of the workshop The second day was kicked off with an open session, where the convicts came forward and requested Mr. Verma from IBJ India to listen to and take up their cases. The morning session  focused on bail, plea-bargaining, appeal and parole. Exercises were done to equip the para-legals in drafting bail applications, plea bargaining applications, parole and appeals. The convicts were given casestories, and asked to draft bail applications, which were reviewed in plural. Other topics covered on the second day were eligibity, referral authorities and the following-up process. On the third and last day of the paralegal training, the movie “Pehel” was screened followed by a discussion. The aim was to visualize the structures that would be needed for effective functioning of paralegal work in Jodhpur Central Jail. Also, some time was devoted to talking about bailable offences, under sections 107 and 151 in the Indian Criminal Procedure Code (Cr. P.C.). Under Section 436 states that if a person is not able to furnish bail for a period of one week, and he does not have a surety, according to the section he is supposed to be released on furnishing a personal bond. The objective of the workshop was to train longterm convicts in a way so that their potential resources in jail administration are enabled. The workshop focused on the difficulties faced by those held in pre-trial detention and stressed how longterm convicts can assist them, while at the same time it helped the convicts to gain insight into their own legal rights. We have a very good relationship with the prison authorities in Jodhpur Central Jail and they also requested us to come back for similar events soon. Because of all these things, IBJ India considers the training as very satisfying and is happy to have been a part of it. Mr. Ajay Verma leading a session on different legal issues.