Funding legal aid

Abstract

Government programs usually do not earn proceeds; this is making it difficult to fund legal aid. Legal aid has a mandate to provide legal services to the poor on state expense. During this time of economic crises and continuous recession, it is becoming difficult to increase service delivery, which includes legal services to the poor. For legal aid to expand its services and to deliver quality legal services, it needs resources. Resources in the form of money require adequate funding and cost effectiveness. The purpose of this study is to examine how legal aid can be funded and how the budgeting system can support service delivery during fiscal deficits in conditions of recession and economic frustrations. With the current economic status, it has been a challenge for organisations to balance the organisational objectives with economic factors to overcome budget constraints. Data Collected from Legal Aid South Africa is used to test two research questions. Results confirm that the use of alternative dispute resolution save the cost of litigation by using more paralegal avoiding the use of more legal professionals; the use 'of internal staff is cost effective than the use of judicare (external legal professionals); trust account is a powerful tool to increase funds for legal aid and that legal aid can be funded by third-party investors.