The government is to review the Legal Aid Scheme Act, 1997 (Act 542) to give improved legal aid services to the poor who cannot afford legal services in the country. The Vice-President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, made this known in a speech read on his behalf by the Deputy Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr Ebo Barton Oduro, at the launch of the maiden Legal Aid Week celebration in Accra on Monday. Held on the theme: “Empowering the vulnerable in society through legal aid”, the celebration is to promote awareness of the important work of the Legal Aid Board (LAB) and the role it plays in promoting justice delivery in the country. Activities lined up for the celebration include public lectures and visits to prisons, police and juvenile cells. Mr Mahama said many people were not able to employ the services of lawyers to seek justice because of their poor financial standing. “The ability to acquire the services of lawyers leaves those less endowed in the disadvantage,” he said. The Vice-President expressed worry that none of the lawyers engaged by the LAB had accepted posting to the Upper West and Upper East regions. Consequently, he said, “the two regions have been left without legal representation”. He, therefore, gave an indication that the government would review the Legal Aid Scheme Act, 1997 to offer more services to the poor for them to feel protected by the system. Mr Mahama stressed the need for the people in the rural areas to be made aware of the existence of the legal aid scheme and how to get support, saying, “No person should be allowed to suffer from injustice.” The Chairman of the LAB, Mr Justice William Atuguba, noted that the board had limited financial standing, which hindered the execution of its work. He, therefore, appealed to stakeholders and corporate bodies to support the board to promote legal aid services. In a speech read on his behalf, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr Martin Amidu, said it was against the tenets of the 1992 Constitution that some people could not get justice because they could not afford legal services. He said the Legal Aid Scheme heard 7,000 cases in 2010 but said many people were still not aware of the existence of legal aid, let alone seek justice through it. The Director of the Legal Aid Scheme, Mr Alhassan Yahaya Seini, said the celebration was to strengthen collaboration among organisations delivering legal aid services, encourage pro bono services among lawyers and law students and increase awareness of the human rights of the poor and vulnerable in society. He appealed to lawyers and law students to render some form of legal services to anyone they could genuinely identify as poor and vulnerable. The President of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA), Mr W.K. Beecham, gave the assurance that lawyers would offer legal aid to the poor who could not afford legal services.