Pakistan Bar Council Free Legal Aid Rules — section 8

8. Applications For Free Legal Aid and their disposal:

(a)Any person desirous of free legal aid shall submit an application on the prescribed form [or on simple paper] to the appropriate Committee or Chairman/Member of the appropriate Committee so authorized and such application shall be supported by an affidavit of the applicant and accompanied by the judgments/orders and other necessary documents providing him cause of action for or against the suit, appeal or proceedings in a Court of law.

(b)The application shall be decided by the respective Committee or its Chairman/Member in the manner stated herein above as soon as possible and each Committee or its Chairman/Member shall be free to grant free legal aid as provided in the schedule hereto or a part thereof.

(c)The free legal aid for professional fees will only be granted in case no Advocate is available to take up or conduct the case free of charge.

(d)Each Committee shall maintain the following panels of lawyers practicing within the area of its operation:

(i)Lawyers voluntarily prepared to take up/conduct cases without charging any fee.

(ii)Lawyers prepared to take up/conduct cases on charging the fee or part thereof as set out in the schedule.

(iii)The above panels may be sub-divided category-wise according to choice of advocate concerned in respect of type of cases he would like to handle.

(e)A Committee may request any advocate to conduct one case in a year free of charge.

(f)Each member of Pakistan Bar Council and Provincial Bar Councils may conduct at least one case in a year that may be assigned to him by a Free Legal Aid Committee.