The round table meeting to establish a comprehensive national system for legal aid in Sudan was launched Wednesday at the Ministry of Justice.
The workshop was organized by the Legal Aid Department at the Ministry of Justice and the International Organization for Penal Reform during August 25 – 26.
The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Justice, Siham Osman, stressed the importance of legal aid and its link with human rights and its support for the insolvent and the legally vulnerable segments, adding that many segments need legal support, especially in the poor countries like Sudan.
She said that the draft legal aid law was prepared years ago, but it was not put in the process of issuing, stressing the need to discuss it and hold wide consultations on so as to come up with a law that meets the aspirations and needs in the field of legal aid inside and outside Sudan.
She indicated that many Sudanese abroad need legal aid in various cases through the mechanism for support to the Sudanese nationals abroad, indicating that legal aid can be extended to include non-Sudanese in Sudan.
The round table meeting stressed the need to formulate a legislation that lays down the foundations for launching the legal aid system and providing the requirements, human and financial resources for implementing this legislation.