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‘Access to Justice’ is one of the constitutionally recognized human and fundamental right. It is also one of the tenets of the ‘Rule of Law’ and hence must be available to common people. In order to define ‘access to justice’ in simple terms is to reach justice easily by adopting legal methods within appropriate time’. Transparent and a non-discriminatory methods must be adopted while delivering justice. Also, the state actors must take into account that in order to enhance access to all, it is necessary to take steps to provide fair, transparent, effective, and accountable service. One such step in ensuring access to justice is introduced through the adoption of the legal aid programs.

The term is often used for access to the formal institutions of the legal system for the purpose of redressing their issue and seeking remedy either individually or in a group. The following are the four facets that constitute the essence of the access to justice. These are:

• An effective adjudicatory mechanism provided by the state

• Mechanism must be accessible in terms of distance

• Adjudication must be speedy

• Adjudicatory Process must be affordable

Although having adequate resources in place like courtrooms and the amount of judges, India still lacks in providing access to justice within appropriate time. Martin Luther king jr, used the phrase “justice too long delayed is justice denied” which means that justice may not alone be delivered but within the appropriate time.

Indian Constitution through Article 39 also helps in fulfilling the concept of access to justice which also enshrined equal justice and free legal aid to promote justice. Also, Article 32 of the Indian Constitution which is also known as the heart of our constitution, provides the concept of PIL (public interest litigation) which helps to achieve the goals of access to justice.

Under Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 section 304 says that the accused is entitled to legal aid at the state’s expense in certain cases like where the accused is not represented by the pleader before the court of sessions and where the court is satisfied that the accused does not have sufficient means to engage the pleader.

Lawyered, a legal-tech initiative, is also deeply involved in providing access to justice to the common people. The underlying principle on which the company is working is that the common people must have access to the legal database, where they could easily look for the wide range of lawyers who are specialized in the different areas of law and book an appointment with them to address their legal issues. Not only this, the company also provides free legal education by giving access to the simplified legal information which enhances the knowledge of the reader and the common man.

Lawyered offers various product services  like Lawyered for Lawyers , Lawyered for Startups, Lawyer on the Spot, Lawyered on Wheelz to common people, new business entrepreneurs, startups and other organizations respectively. The details of these product services are as follows:

• Lawyered for Lawyers:The product provides detailed information about Lawyer’s specialization and their availability to the public for addressing their legal issues. With this product, the person can seek advice from the lawyer and can engage him for his matter etc.

• Lawyered for Startups: It is an initiative for the young startups and new businesses to provide them with the legal assistance required for their functioning. The new regular updates and all the relevant information is extracted from the useful websites and are provided to them for their knowledge. 

• ‘Lawyered on Wheelz’ for private vehicles: The product prevents private vehicle owners from getting into a troubled situation such as paying the extra cost to the authorities etc. With the 24x7 helpline, the owner can give a call to the in-house team at any time and report any issue that they may be facing. The in-house team of experts will handle the situation and, if required, also assist in providing a lawyer to the concerned parties.

• 'Lawyer on the Spot' for commercial vehicles : provides quick solutions for such issues faced by them while they are in transit such as Unlawful detention, FIR, E-waybill etc. by providing Pan India Service, On Spot Legal Support and 24*& call availability.

Keywords:

Access to Justice, rule of law, fundamental right, adjudication, speedy process, public interest litigation, free legal aid, Lawyered for Lawyers, Lawyered for Startups, Lawyer on the Spot, Lawyered on Wheelz