Kamuzu Academy Law Department
Legal Aid Bureau
Mr. Akuzike Chizalema writes...
The Legal Aid Act No. 28 of 2010 established as an independent institution Malawi's Legal Aid Bureau, which performs the duties that once belonged to the Legal Aid Department of the Ministry of Justice. It provides for the assistance of a person who does not have sufficient means to engage a private legal practitioner in civil and criminal matters.
Currently the Bureau operates in four regional offices, based in Blantyre, Lilongwe, Mzuzu and (recently) Zomba. The Bureau allows interns the opportunity to work alongside its lawyers and to gain experience of practising Law. Kamuzu Academy has been granted the privilege of sending students to the Bureau for the past eleven years.
Our group served the Bureau in Lilongwe for six weeks starting in July. On the first day we were taught how to take statements from applicants for approval and how to organize the file. The Director explained that this is to give a vivid description of what had happened to the client and in what way they wish the Bureau to assist them. Statements were usually taken in the office, with occasional visits to Maula and Kachere prisons.
The Bureau deals with all civil matters ranging from land disputes to unfair dismissal. The Director assigned each of us a supervisor, who provided instruction on how to approach the case. This could be through writing a demand letter to the respondent which explains the claimant's complaint and reveals what he or she requests. For example, when a client is going through a family feud and a family member happens to be holding the other's property unlawfully, the demand letter seeks to inform the respondent that the client is being represented by the Bureau and if the respondent does not respond, the Bureau proceeds by going straight to the High Court to file an injunction for the return of the property and, if necessary, a requital.
We also came into contact with inmates seeking appeals and defendants seeking representation. We assisted by writing a letter of appointment to get access to the court file at the Magistrates' Court's office. From this a bail application could be filed and the Bureau’s legal advocates were able to develop a skeleton argument.
I learned more than just the practical office work during my experience at the Bureau. My perspective on the struggles Malawians may be going through changed somewhat after I witnessed how hectic the building gets with the constant arrival of new applicants. The Bureau offers an essential public service in providing legal assistance that many in Malawi do not have access to.
Mr. Ndiyemebekeza Jamu writes...
Malawi's Legal Aid Bureau is a government office that offers legal services to those in need at a cost affordable to the client. Sometimes, the services are offered for free depending on whether the client is employed or how much income he / she generates. Services such as legal advice are offered at no cost at all. Legal representation is offered at the Legal Aid Bureau, as well as help in drafting letters in order to appeal to the higher courts, such as the High Court and the Supreme Court.
I had the opportunity to intern for 4 weeks (courtesy of the Kamuzu Academy Law Department) at the Legal Aid Bureau. It was great to experience what working in the legal profession is like, having been given actual legal work to do – with the guidance of legal workers there, of course.
The Legal Aid Bureau gave us work such as interviewing clients and writing statements for them if their claims / complaints had a potential case, as decided by the Chief Legal Advocate, Ms. Juliet Chimwaga Sibale. Moreover, we got the chance to open files for cases that had been allocated to the lawyers.
We were invited to tag along with the legal officers and interview clients whose families felt that they had been wrongly imprisoned at the Chichiri prison in Blantyre. It was even possible to visit courts, such as the Magistrates' Court and the High Court: we got to witness how most things are done in the courts, such as advocating and returning judgment.
One of the senior advocates, Mr. Humphrey Panyanja, who is an alumnus of the Kamuzu Academy, was very welcoming. He organized trips for us into rural areas such as Chikwawa and Mwanza in order to investigate matters that had been going on there, for those that could not afford to come all the way to Blantyre for legal help.
Interning at the Legal Aid Bureau was an amazing experience, especially because it gave me the chance to interact with people of different backgrounds and to improve my communication skills and understanding of the Law in Malawi, but also because it created the opportunity to have a taste of what working in the legal profession would be like for those of us who are aspiring lawyers.
Miss Tapiwa Liwimbi writes...
Earlier in the year I had the opportunity to intern at the Legal Aid Bureau in Lilongwe: from the beginning of July to mid-August. This experience enhanced my interest in the Law as I worked closely with experienced lawyers who taught me a great deal about the practical aspect of the Law. The lawyers there allowed me to ask questions when I had any. They often gave me assignments to research different areas of the Malawi legal system so that I was able to come to my own conclusions and make decisions based on them. This helped develop my understanding of the Law further.
In the beginning, my only task was to observe the lawyers and other interns in the organization so that we could become familiar with the work required and how to handle clients. We were taught how to take a client's statement as well as how to collect the most appropriate and useful information by asking the right questions.
We were then taught how to file and categorize these cases. We mainly dealt with land disputes, contract, tort, employment and road traffic accidents. I learnt important points of law on each type of case that helped me distinguish between areas of law that often overlapped and helped clarify misunderstandings I had on certain facts.
When we submitted the file to the Director for approval, we were assigned supervisors for that particular case. There were many different supervisors who were all very helpful. They would tell me where to go next and would sometimes ask for my opinion. My supervisor and I would discuss the most appropriate course of action and he / she would then give me a task to do. I was mainly asked to draft documents such as demand letters, notices of adjournment, summons for divorce, injunctions and notices of appointment. My supervisor would then walk me through my mistakes and teach me exactly how to draft the documents.
I enjoyed my experience of interviewing clients because I was often surprised by the stories I heard from them. Some cases made me feel sympathetic towards the clients: for example, a client who was wrongfully imprisoned for two years because he could not afford legal representation to defend himself.
Overall, I enjoyed my experience because the environment at the Legal Aid Bureau was unrestricted: everyone was open to any questions I had and would answer them comprehensively, which allowed me to learn a lot from them. I am all in all grateful to the Kamuzu Academy Law Department and the Legal Aid Bureau for the experience.