Adding another feather to the cap of Government Law College, Thrissur, the Legal Services Clinic and ADR Centre of the college has been awarded with the Best Legal Aid Clinic in Law College, 2023 by the Kerala State Legal Services Authority (KELSA). This commendable award has been rendered to the Centre for its diverse and extensive activities held throughout the year. The focus of this Centre has been to create an impact in the society primarily by providing legal aid and ADR facilities. The routinely conducted Lok Adalats in association with the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) has been a portal to justice and learning opportunities for the students at Government Law College, Thrissur and equipping them in this field.
The year 2023 being the 10th anniversary of the Centre, started off as Para Legal Training and Institutional Alternative Dispute Resolution Centre under the aegis of Prof. (Dr.) Mercy Thekkekara and Prof. Suhuruthkumar. With the changing dynamics of the legal services clinic to include Lok Adalats and other extension works, the Centre has evolved into its present form thereby emerging as a testament to its own motto ‘Learn and Practice’. Prof. (Dr.) Sonia K Das and Prof. A A Khadeejabi, the current faculty coordinators of the Centre have been pivotal in this achievement of the Centre.
ASSOCIATION WITH DLSA
Legal Services Clinic and ADR Centre of Government Law College, Thrissur functions in close association with DLSA, Thrissur. Lok Adalats are organized by the Clinic in association with DLSA as well as TLSA. The DLSA leads the volunteers of the Clinic beyond the four boundaries of the campus to the real world. They provided the opportunity to visit the Mental Health Centre, Westfort Thrissur; Children’s Home, Ramavarmapuram; Mahilamandiram, Central Prison and Correctional Home, Viyyur; tribal colonies etc. The DLSA provides a platform for the volunteers while observing various international days of importance such as Human Rights Day, Women’s Day, Environmental Day etc. All these have served as a great source for the volunteers to understand the gap between letters of law ornamental in statute books and law in action. The volunteers of the Legal Services Clinic were active in the Legal Aid Clinic Stall of Thrissur Pooram Exhibition 2023.
ADALATS
The Legal Services Clinic regularly conducts Lok Adalats in association with the DLSA, Thrissur. The Clinic assists DLSA for conducting pre-Adalat talks so that the cases can be well understood, and various options for settlement can be explored before the Adalat itself. This saves time and makes discussions on the Adalat day more effective. The Government Law College, Thrissur is the regular venue for the pre-Adalat talks organized by DLSA, Thrissur.
On 28th of October 2023, the Centre organized an Adalat in association with Poyya Grama Panchayath. The peculiarity of this Adalat was that the Panchayat took the initiative to settle the disputes without resorting to the judicial system thus making grama swaraj more meaningful. The volunteers of Legal Services Clinic contacted the parties, studied the cases, and discussed the issues and settled the disputes amicably fixing the broken relationships, which is the crux of ADR mechanism. This is the first of its kind in Kerala which can be set as an example for the whole state. The officials from the Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA) also came for the Adalat to understand the modalities adopted so that it can be made a model for other Local Self Governments.
NETWORKING
The Legal Services Clinic & ADR Centre has joined hands with various NGOs in Thrissur such as Jananeethi , Chikithsaneethi etc. The Clinic has offered various rights awareness programs in association with both these NGOs. The Clinic also associate with the Vimukthi campaign of the Government of Kerala with an aim to eradicate all sorts of narcotic substances from campuses which otherwise pose a serious threat to the health and welfare of people. The Legal Services Clinic provides legal aid to transgender persons in Thrissur.
The volunteers attend various awareness programs organized by KILA and attend their classes. The Legal Services Clinic has also offered a Basic Awareness Course on Law and Human Rights for UG students from various colleges.
ANTI HUMAN TRAFFICKING CLUB
Anti-Human Trafficking Club started in 2015 as a Unit of the Legal Services Clinic under the leadership and guidance of Anti- Human Trafficking Cell of Kerala Police and DLSA. Since then, various programs have been organized to combat this evil. This year on 18th March 2023, the faculty coordinators of the Centre along with Student Coordinator Varnana Valsan attended the State Level Consultation of the Stake Holders of AHTCs organized by KELSA and Kerala Police at High Court Auditorium Kochi.
TRAINING IN ADR MECHANISMS
The Legal Services and ADR Centre provides regular training programs in Alternate Dispute Resolution mechanisms to the students of the College. They are introduced to mediation and arbitration. The Centre also trains the students for various Mediation competitions, Client Counselling competitions, Negotiation competitions as well as Med-Arb competitions. The practical experience the volunteers get while participating in the Adalat moulds them to take up such challenges.
It is the solemn duty of law students and legal professionals to wipe the tears of the helpless unfortunate masses. The Legal Services Clinic of Government Law College, Thrissur have strived hard through its endeavours to make justice a reality for the underprivileged people.
