Legal Awareness Watch supplying services to kids

LAHORE: Director Legal Awareness Watch (LAW) and chairman Juvenile Justice and Child Rights Committee Lahore Bar Association (2021-204) Sarmad Ali Saturday said LAW is providing pro bono legal services to juvenile in conflict.

Talking to reporters, Sarmad said in Pakistan juvenile justice is not at advanced level in comparison to developed countries He said all juvenile justice is a child justice that is aimed at safeguarding the best interests of children in conflict. Sarmad said in the wake of Universal Periodic Review on Pakistan in 2017 by the UN Human Rights Commission the Pakistani Parliament in May 2018 introduced “Juvenile Justice System Act 2018” to protect the best interests of children in conflict.

Sarmad said numerous children are in 106 prisons of the country and some even have no access to legal aid due to poverty of their parents. He said LAW is the only hope for such children, and it is operating primarily in Punjab and Sindh despite financial constraints to protect the best interests of children in conflict and is supplying pro bono legal services to them in collaboration with numerous local partners and stakeholders.

He said the LAW is not only providing free legal services to kids, but it has also been raising capacity-building of the stakeholders through awareness-raising sessions and training workshops.