At a national webinar here on Monday, Ekatjahjana remarked that strengthening the role of paralegals, who have legal expertise but are not professional lawyers, could be beneficial for people embroiled in legal matters.
It is especially useful for people, with a poor economical standing or are illiterate about legal matters, so they could receive assistance to get justice.
Ekatjahjana drew attention to three primary parties within the scope of provision of legal aid in Indonesia.
The first is the state through the ministry. The second is PBH that comprises legal assistance organization accredited by the Law and Human Rights Minister.
Then, there are people, especially, those who are economically incapable and illiterate about legal matters, as the recipients of legal aid.
However, thus far, during the 2019-2021 accreditation period for the PBH, they have not been equally distributed across districts or cities in Indonesia, Ekatjahjana noted.
"From the 2019 to 2021 accreditation, there are 524 legal aid providers," he stated.
"Of course, these 524 PBH are not equally spread out in districts or cities but are only distributed in 215 districts or cities," he stated.
People in villages are still encountering difficulties in receiving legal aid, especially in 62 districts or cities from 11 provinces categorized as outermost, remote, and underdeveloped areas, he added.
While there are economically capable ones among them, legal aid services are still difficult to find owing to problems pertaining to access, knowledge, and liaison through PBH.
"Those who live far from the legal aid service center encounter difficulties in contacting lawyers and advocates, who are often based in urban areas," Ekatjahjana pointed out.
To this end, strengthening the role of paralegals becomes increasingly necessary to facilitate the entire population in accessing legal aid.
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Translator: Tri Meilani A, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Sri Haryati
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