"Ignorance of Law is no excuse" is an ancient legal maxim. With the legislatures churning out loads of legislation and the Executive issuing far reaching notifications/regulations day by day, it has become extremely important for the common man to ascertain the various legal rules that regulates their conduct in a given situation. The problem has become acute in case of the poor and the deprived classes. It is in this context that the Central Government has set up a Statutory Authority called the National Legal Services Authority with the judge of the Supreme Court as its Chairman. Law colleges all over have been invited to participate in the legal literacy and awareness campaign in the country. It is to fulfill this obligation that Legal Aid and Awareness society is set up in this college.

Objective

1) To conduct Legal Awareness Campaigns preferably in the remote corners of the states.
2) To provide legal aid to those who are needy and hence unable to approach the Court for justice.
3) To create awareness among the students regarding the actual socio-legal situation in the country.
4) To enable the students to analyse, interpret and implement various legal and constitutional provisions available for the benefit of the poor and the deprived classes.
5) To provide practical training to the students, in the field of advocacy.


Membership

Every student who is granted admission is expected to be a member of this society. The membership fees are INR 300.00 per year.

Activities of the V. M. S. College of Law, Legal Aid Society

LEGAL AID CELLS

V. M. Salgaocar College of Law has been the first college in India to have setup the largest number of professionally run Legal Aid Cells in India. These cells are situated in various parts of Goa.

LEGAL AWARENESS

The College undertakes various legal awareness projects to educate the public on various socio-legal issues. The same is being done by organising lecture series, local discussion programmes, street plays etc, in various parts of the State.

GOA CENTRE FOR CONCILIATION

The delay caused by the system of adjudication in India has become a cause of injustice. Social reformers, legislators as well as concerned citizens have been searching for an alternative for speedy settlement of cases. The Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1996 is one such endeavor in this regard. The Act mainly focuses on the method of arbitration as a means for settlement of such disputes. Past experience has shown that arbitration is not only expensive but often leads to further delay. Conciliation as a method of settlement is a viable alternative. The courts in India and the legal profession are used to a particular procedure in the resolution of disputes and often find it extremely difficult if not impossible to adopt methods of conciliation.
With the limited experience of the College through its various legal aid cells in the northern parts of Goa, the College has experimented with the method of conciliation and has found that conciliation is an effective method of settlement of disputes. The basic advantages are it is cost effective, it is prompt and is not ridden with procedural hurdles and once settlement is arrived, not only the disputes are settled but the parties grievance and personal enmities are also solved. In this context, the College has decided to set up a Center for Conciliation where law students, junior advocates and others will be trained in the art of conciliation. The Center will conduct various state level and national level programs first to create awareness regarding the advantage of conciliation over other methods of settlement of disputes and then to train personnel who will take up the profession of conciliators. The College intends to set up a Conciliation Training Center.

Contact Information

Prof. M. R. K. Prasad  
Co-ordinator, The Legal Aid Society, 
V.M. Salgaocar College of Law,
Miramar - Panjim, Goa,
403 001 - India.

Phone: 
+91-832-462225
+91-832-461809

Fax:     
+91-832-421571

Email:  
legalaidsociety@vmslaw.edu
mrkprasad@vmslaw.edu