The project came up following a research conducted by LAF completed in 2017 on citizen perception of justice and legal services in Rwanda. The study found that the distance Rwandans have to travel to reach legal aid providers represent an access problem.

Rwandans can dial 845 and listen to free information on their legal rights and are also given the option to access a legal aid hotline for a personal consultation, staffed by call center operators from the Legal Aid Forum.

One of the callers to the Service was 23-year-old Sarah (Name has been changed to protect privacy). When she was just 15, she was sexually assaulted by a neighbor, who later got a life sentence in prison. Several years later, the father of the offender physically assaulted her, stabbing her several times. She reported this to the court, and he too received a life sentence in prison. Later, within the same year, the mother and the brother-in-law of the offender attacked her again, stabbing her several times as well. They too received life sentences. Subsequently, Sarah’s family wanted to claim for victim compensation, however, they were unable to do so, as they had spent all their money on filing the previous cases. She dialed 845 and requested to be called back by a Legal Aid Forum call center operator. A few days later, she received a call from a Legal Aid Forum operator. Through the Legal Aid Forum, she was provided with a lawyer to pursue her victim compensation claim – free of charge.
Since the content was launched on our 8-4-5 Service in Rwanda in September 2018, over 1,200,000 calls have been placed to access the legal aid information and over 120,000 people have requested a call back from a lawyer. So far, over 35,000 call-backs have been made by the Legal Aid Forum hotline call center, with lawyers providing more information, referring callers to different justice handlers, and offering free legal representation. So far, 58 beneficiaries have been given lawyers to assist them in court free of charge.

http://www.legalaidrwanda.org/spip.php?rubrique13

• Rwanda

• Youth
• Older persons
• Women
• People with disabilities
• The unemployed
• The poor
• Remote and rural communities
• Teen mothers

This project can be replicated in any other country with problems of access to legal aid provider.

Rwandans will always need legal aid services and as this project came as durable solution to help population access legal aid services, it will sustain as long as it get operational funds.

The Project is complementing SDG 16.3 on Access to Justice by bridging the gap of access to Justice using ICT. From the beginning of legal aid service provisions, the most common idea was that legal aid providers should set up offices closer to the communities to avoid requiring clients to walk long distances. While building additional offices in more parts of the country may not be feasible, offering individuals the option of accessing legal aid services over the phone would reduce the burden on the vulnerable and indigent of having to walk long distances to receive legal aid and this has happen and anonymously has successes through 845/*845#.