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The Legal Aid Commission has said children below 18 years automatically qualify for legal aid services.
A staff of the Commission, Nancy Tetteh explained in an interview on JoyNews that "The Law provides that children who are involved in cases under the Juvenile Justice Act are allowed to seek legal assistance.
“As part of the automatic qualifications for legal aid, we also have cases under the Juvenile Justice Act so that any case that comes against a juvenile, the juvenile automatically qualifies for legal aid,” she said on Sunday, November 6, 2022.
The issue of legal aid remains one of the widely discussed issues in Ghana, with many stakeholders calling on the Commission to roll out measures to make its services more accessible to the general public, especially those in rural communities.
According to Nancy Tetteh, the Commission exists to serve the interest of the poor and vulnerable in the society and has mechanisms for assessing the financial status of people who apply for aid, and persons who intentionally present false information to seek aid can be fined or made to serve two-year jail term.
Another staff of the Commission, Mahmoud Abdul Rasheed stated in an earlier interview on JoyNews that there is no need to tell lies to seek assistance.
“If you’re truthful, chances are that you can still get the aid even though you don’t qualify [and] you don’t fall below the minimum wage. There are practical situations where we’ve had persons who have actually told you that, I actually have property, I’m no indigent."
"So under the circumstance, people like that, if some investigations are done and we find out that indeed, these are persons who actually need the services at that time because they’re in a situation where they cannot afford the services of lawyers, then that exemption can be done,” he clarified.
He added, “If you fail to be truthful to the Commission and they find that you actually came and lied to us, then you’ll be refused legal aid."
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