National Legal Services Day 2024: Types of Lok Adalat You Need to Know

National Legal Services Day is celebrated every year on November 9 in India. This commemorates the enactment of the Legal Services Agencies Act 1987, which came into effect on November 9, 1995. This commemoration event was initiated by the Supreme Court of India to inspire people’s legal awareness and ensure justice for all, especially the vulnerable groups.

importance and goals

The overarching goal of National Legal Services Day is to create greater awareness of legal rights and dispute resolution mechanisms. It emphasizes that persons with financial disabilities should not be denied their right to representation in courts. On that day, various arrangements were made to raise public awareness about free legal services and equal access to justice.

Core goals:

Legal Literacy: Educating citizens about their legal rights.

Free legal services: ensuring vulnerable and economically disadvantaged groups are represented in court

Conflict resolution: Promote the amicable resolution of disputes in people’s courts.

historical background

The celebration of National Legal Services Day can be traced back to the call given by Chief Justice AS Anand in 1998 at the first annual meeting of the National Legal Services Agency. The meeting aimed to review the existing legal aid schemes across India and make them more effective. The National Legal Services Agency (NALSA), under the provisions of the Legal Services Agencies Act, plays an important role in achieving these objectives by organizing legal awareness camps, workshops and other outreach programmes.

National Legal Service Day Activities

Today, NALSA and its state counterparts are making great strides in planned activities such as:

Legal Awareness Camps: Educate people about their rights and the availability of legal services.

Training camp: imparting knowledge on how to obtain free legal aid and assisting them in becoming familiar with the judicial system

Lok Adalats: Convening of alternative dispute resolution forums to resolve cases amicably.

Lok Adalats, or “People’s Courts,” are an integral part of India’s alternative dispute resolution system and aim to provide accessible and efficient justice. There are various types of Lok Adalats, each serving a specific purpose and resolving various types of disputes. Here are the main types you need to know about:

Types of Lok Adalat

  1. Permanent Loadalat (PLA):
    • Established under Section 22-B of the Legal Services Agencies Act, 1987.
    • Focus on the development of transportation, postal, telecommunications and other public utility services.
    • As a permanent body, it has a chairman and two members.
    • It is empowered to adjudicate cases up to Rs 1 Crore if the parties fail to reach a settlement and its award shall be final and binding.
  2. National Lock Adalat:
    • Held regularly throughout the country on specific dates.
    • It is designed to resolve a large number of cases in all courts from Supreme Court to Taluk level simultaneously.
    • Focus on various subject matters every month to promote collective resolution of disputes.
  3. Megale Adalat:
    • Similar to National Lok Adalats, but usually involve larger gatherings aimed at large-scale settlement activities.
    • Designed to handle a large number of cases in a day, usually organized at the state or district level.
  4. Mobile Le Adalat:
    • Designed to reach remote areas where access to traditional courts may be restricted.
    • Operates in different locations on different days, providing legal services directly in the community.
  5. Daily Le Adalat:
    • Regularly, at designated intervals (such as daily or weekly) to ensure ongoing access to dispute resolution.
    • Help manage court backlog by providing timely solutions.
  6. Continuous Le Adalat:
    • Long-term continuous operation, allowing for ongoing hearings and settlements.
    • Designed to provide flexibility to parties seeking solutions without having to wait for scheduled meetings

National Legal Services Day is not only a celebration of legal rights but also about bridging the gap between the legal and marginalized groups so that justice is accessible to all in society.

National Legal Services Day reinforces the commitment to justice and legal assistance for everyone, especially vulnerable groups. By bridging the gap between legal resources and marginalized communities, ensuring that no individual is denied representation and that awareness of legal rights becomes a pillar of social equality.