Malawi Law Society to Launch National Wide Pro Bono Scheme
The Malawi Law Society (“MLS”) is established under section 63 of the Legal Education and Legal Practitioners Act, 2017 (“LELPA”) with the mandate to, among others, promote matters of public interest touching, ancillary and incidental to the law. Under section 42 of the LELPA, every legal practitioner is mandated to perform at least 24 hours of pro bono work in a practice year. Pro bono refers to the offering of legal services for free. The MLS and the Legal Aid Bureau (LAB) coordinate the provision of pro bono services by legal practitioners.
During its Annual General Meeting held at Sunbird Nkopola Lodge in Mangochi on 20th March 2022, the members of the MLS adopted a Resolution for the Development of a Working Framework for the Enhancement of Legal Practitioners’ Nationwide Involvement in Pro bono Legal Services for Legal Aid Bureau Related work and Judiciary Referrals. Through this scheme the Malawi Law MLS will ultimately develop and distribute nationwide District panels of Legal Practitioners for reference by the Judiciary of pro bono work to Legal Practitioners for those members of the public deserving of legal aid assistance. The MLS intends to launch the scheme on Friday, 13th October, 2023 at Mwinje Primary School, T/A Malemia in Zomba District. So far 50 lawyers already registered to participate in the scheme.