He defended 15 murder accused free of charge

IN THE three years he has served as Director of the Legal Aid and Advisory Authority (LAAA), Israel Khan has defended pro bono 15 persons charged with murder. In other words, he gave his services free of charge to the accused who could not afford to pay for defence counsel. This may well be something of a record, but the successful criminal lawyer feels no special pride about it since, as he told this newspaper, he felt he should lead the Legal Aid Authority by example. “I made the sacrifice to send a message to Legal Aid lawyers, many of whom are still young in the profession, that money is not everything, that they should derive a certain satisfaction in helping poor persons facing capital offences in our courts.”

But the fact is that Legal Aid lawyers are now fairly well paid, thanks to the upgrading of their fees under former Attorney General Ramesh Lawrence-Maharaj. For non-capital offences, lawyers receive between $3,000 to $5,000 per case. Fees for taking briefs in capital offences range from $7,500 to $10,000 per case. But still, the LAAA Director feels there is a principle in his pro bono message that will always remain valid. Apart from giving freely so much of his time in court, Khan looks back with satisfaction on what he has achieved during his three-year term in making the LAAA what he believes is a truly effective agency.

For one thing, the list of Legal Aid lawyers is now fairly large, with 130 registered to handle criminal matters. On an average, some 40 attorneys are given matters every month. Not only are more attorneys benefitting but briefs are also distributed more equitably than when he took up the Directorship. That was because of the changes Khan made to the old procedure by which judges in court were appointing lawyers to do legal aid work. “When I took over, there was no systematic way of appointing attorneys. There was even a measure of touting in court and I felt the time had come to regularise the system,” said Khan. As a result, he decided to operate the Authority strictly according to the Act which stipulates that only the Director can assign attorneys to do legal aid matters.

That change at first created some anguish among a number of attorneys but the benefits were clear, not only in the equitable distribution of briefs but also in the transparency of the Authority’s operations. “Every month the list of lawyers who have been appointed to do criminal matters is sent to the Minister of Legal Affairs and this information is available to the public through the Freedom of Information Act and will soon be appearing on the Authority’s website,” the Director noted. As a result of Khan’s streamlining of the procedure, all the stakeholders in the judicial system, including judges, magistrates, the Probation Department, assist persons in getting legal aid which is now granted expeditiously and lawyers are paid their fees within ten days of completing their matters.

There has been some complaint among senior junior attorneys — those with ten years or more experience at the criminal bar — that they are only given difficult cases to do. “But,” said Khan, “Legal Aid is not about winning or losing a case, it is about assisting in the administration of justice by ensuring that the accused person gets a fair trial in accordance with the law of the land. “I have always maintained that the rationale for Legal Aid is not to assist lawyers to make a living but to assist the impoverished person in need of the services of an attorney.” Khan is also responsible for introducing a Code of Ethics to govern the conduct of Legal Aid lawyers. The Code has been approved by the Board and will be sent to the Ministry of Legal Affairs for transmission to the Law Reform Commission for drafting into the regulations of the Act.

As the three-year term of the Director draws to an end, Khan says he is prepared to serve a second term as many of his predecessors have done, but he is not lobbying. “I am not begging anybody to appoint me” he declared, “but the constitution of this country recognises that every citizen should be given the opportunity to serve on the basis of merit, ability and integrity.” However, Khan acknowledges that the appointment is a political one and, he says, “if the political directorate feels they can find a more suitable person, then I am happy with that.” Politically, Khan is non-aligned, holding no membership in any political party. He was once a member of the NAR but resigned from that party after serving his term as Alderman in the Tunapuna Regional Council, following the break-up of the party.

After raising some protest early in 2002 about a Minister wearing the PNM party symbol, the balisier flower, while conducting official business, Khan received a letter from Prime Minister Patrick Manning which pointed out that since 1956, the matter had been raised periodically “and there have always been advocates for both positions.” The PM added: “Having read most of your public statements, and even though I disagree with some of your positions, I am of the view that persons like yourself should be encouraged to participate in the building and development of the country.”