TRC Final Report

Volume 6

Section 6

Part Managerial_Reports

Subsection 2

Legal Assistance Programme

3. In terms of Section 34 of the Act, persons who were required to appear before the Commission under a subpoena or notice were entitled to legal representation. The Commission, in conjunction with the Minister of Justice, therefore implemented a legal assistance program to assist indigent persons in obtaining legal assistance.

4. The Legal Aid Board was appointed as an agent of the Commission to administer and reimburse legal representatives for the work done in respect of the Commission’s activities.

5. Whilst the normal criterion for qualification to obtain legal assistance was satisfaction of the means test, many people did not qualify, as their income exceeded the limit (sometimes not by very much). This operated unfairly against private persons who might be required to spend considerable time away fro m home or work with no financial relief for employment lost. The Commission then applied an ‘in the interest of justice’ test which allowed most people to qualify for legal assistance, and which was given to perpetrators as a matter of course.

6. As of December 1998, it became obvious that the Legal Aid Board ’s administration was unable to cope with the Commission’s instructions. Many hearings were postponed at great cost to the Commission because attorneys had either not been properly instructed or not been paid outstanding fees. In addition, many attorneys had threatened to boycott the process unless payment of outstanding legal accounts was made before they would accept new work or complete partly-heard matters. As a result, the Legal Assistance Programme was taken over and run by the Commission’s Legal Department from August 1999. The agency agreement with the Legal Aid Board was consequently terminated.

7. In order to streamline the legal appointment process, all stakeholders such as state attorneys and Bar Councils (in all nine provinces) were consulted and notified of the new procedures, which entailed the following:

a The Legal Department was responsible for issuing the instructions to legal representatives in liaison with the administrative component of the Amnesty Committee.

b The Legal Department would negotiate fees (within the parameters of the Regulations published in terms of Section 34 of the Act) up front and confirm precisely the terms of the instructions before any work was undertaken.

c The Legal Department would make all necessary accommodation and travelling arrangements with legal re p resentatives and witnesses in consultation with the administrative component of the Amnesty Committee.

d The Legal Department would scrutinise all accounts presented, corroborate with the Amnesty Committee, tax the account/fees and issue instructions for payment.

e In respect of security force personnel or liberation force members who were dealt with in terms of section 3(3) of the State Attorneys Act 1958, the Legal Department undertook to assist the state attorneys in assuming all the preliminary work in the preparation of a taxed find account for payment by them.