It has been written by Chahat, a third-year law student of University Institute of Legal Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh.

INTRODUCTION

Ignorance of the law is not an excuse, according to the Latin proverb ignorantia juris non-excusat. It also applies to laypeople. One should be aware of the legal system and available remedies in one's own country as it empowers an individual to advocate for themselves and combat social injustice[1]. Legal awareness, also described as legal literacy, is an important element that refers to an understanding of rights and responsibilities that individuals and organizations possess at any one time, as well as knowledge regarding the functioning of legal institutions. Each person should try to bring Legal literacy as it is the basis for justice, combat, and act against Exploitation and Equalization. Thus, the goal of legal education of people and society to turn into active subjects, who would adhere to legal standards, and be able to act in accordance with law and participate in legal systems processes can be met. Therefore, legal awareness is a way of educating the populace to appreciate, assert their rights, and deal with the judicial system and society. In this article, the author describes legal awareness as an effective method of attaining social justice and shows what processes it undergoes.

Thus, if people are aware of their rights and the legal provisions, they are likely to be assured of their rights to a fair trial and the existence of the rule of law. This results in the formation of a society that is just not only in the aspect of theories but it is something that is felt and experienced by all. As defined by the American Bar Association, legal awareness is “the capacity to make decisions regarding the content of the law, the procedure that is being followed in court, available legal assistance and means of employing the system and describing changes that would certainly enhance the legal academia is legal literacy”.[2]

NEED AND IMPORTANCE

Legal awareness is a powerful instrument for the following purposes:

1. Empowerment through Knowledge: Legal literacy empowers people with the information required in the fight against injustices in society. Such empowerment is more so relevant for the most vulnerable groups of the population that stand before numerous justice dilemmas, discriminated against by society and the law. Knowledge of one’s legal frameworks empowers citizens to fight for equity, seek justice where actions have been perpetrated, and make organisations responsible for their actions. For example, people who are aware of their rights against discrimination can use them to challenge injustices in employment, education, and housing.

2. Enhancing Access to Justice: The public has a right to access justice - this is an essential part of social fairness. Legal awareness is a key mechanism for accessing legal remedies for the common man. Malaysian Insider reported that many of those who are not aware of the legal system and institutions will find it difficult to achieve justice. Community legal clinics benefit the public, and Information campaigns, and free Legal Tuesday services provide the legal education that most people lack.

3. Protection from Traffickers: Without legal awareness, people become easy prey to many opportunistic and scammer people. Because everybody knows that predatory practices (e.g., unfair labor rights or human trafficking) typically affect those who do not realize what their legal protection might be. The incidence of these abuses can be greatly decreased through legal literacy programs that teach targeted populations about their rights and the available protections. For example, migrants who know the labor laws are less easily victimized by employers.

4. Social Justice and Advocacy: Those who possess legal expertise are better equipped to promote equality and social justice. To address social concerns and inequalities, informed persons can actively participate in legal activism by advocating for changes to laws and regulations.

5. P. N Bhagwati defines legal aid as an act of the delivery of justice to the public in a way that justice is accessible and inaccessible to those who cannot demand it, yet the same Judge Bhagwati of legal aid has shockingly declared that women, the vulnerable, and the disadvantaged community cannot help themselves by enforcing their rights. Hence, the significant solution at the moment is to raise the awareness of the population as well as the proper organization of delivery mechanisms.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

Ø According to the Allahabad High Court's citation in the Arun Kumar Upadhaya v. State of UP case, organizations are permitted to take necessary action to disseminate legal literacy among the public and to take part in the organization of programs for legal literacy awareness.

Ø Governments of many countries have initiated national campaigns aimed at legal awareness. For example, India’s National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) exists and continues to grow through programs such as legal awareness outreaches, seminars, and even camps that target rural and marginalized groups.

Ø Legal clinics are mostly known to have increased in many countries and these are organizations that offer legal services for free for the needy. It is common for such clinics to organize and conduct training sessions to inform the societies of the laws governing them.

Ø We can also identify growing legal literacy in the case of Neria Bendavid and ors. v. State of Goa. In this case, the Bombay HCs had carried out legal literacy in the jail where special emphasis was laid on legal aid, plea bargaining, and why legal awareness is so important.

Ø At the same time, Governments are also coming up with legislation that makes legal education imperative. In some countries, they set the policy that legal education should be provided in schools to guarantee a young generation will have already understood their basic rights as well as how the law system works.

Ø The use of smartphones has added mobile applications to the general society that focuses on enhancing legal knowledge among users. Examples of such legal apps include “Ask a Lawyer” and “LegalZoom,” which enable the user to find solutions to legal issues and seek legal assistance. These tools are very effective in the provision of health information to distinguished populations.

Ø One can find that non-governmental organizations and NGOs have also left no stone unturned in raising legal awareness among the citizens. NGO and legal institutions have undertaken collaboration to foster programs that seek to ensure that the disadvantaged groups in society are educated on their legal status. For instance, the cooperation of Amnesty International with local non-governmental legal agencies has created useful legal schooling initiatives internationally.

METHODS TO PROMOTE LEGAL AWARENESS

1. Media and Publications: Media is one of the most effective means of educating and sensitizing the public on legal issues because it is widely used. Facebook, Twitter Instagram, and other social networks can spread information about legal rights and problems to a wide number of people, providing the possibility of immediate discussion. With the permission to naturalize legal knowledge, blogs and articles on the most visited web resources are informative enough. Podcasts and videos may help explain legal issues and interestingly present them helping those readers who don’t like reading.

Print media, including newspapers and magazines, and electronic media consisting of radio and television media also help in this aspect a lot. Thus, ordinary articles and headings on legal issues in popular newspapers inform people of their legal rights and obligations. Television programs and radio talks that broadcast the opinions of legal analysts on current legal matters can target the illiterate and those who cannot access the internet on legal matters. With the help of both new means and traditional media, legal literacy can be promoted, thus providing people with tools to fight for their rights in the sphere of law.

2. Art as a vehicle for social change: People may relate to and feel their feelings are portrayed in the paintings and posters, among other works of art. Volunteer groups and local NGOs should concentrate on making posters and charts that reflect the fight against racism, torture, custodial violence, over-exploitation of natural resources, and other issues. By representing the rights of consumers, women and children, and gender equality, this will encourage people to make changes. The language of art can be understood by even an illiterate man. A striking image with a clear and uncomplicated main message is always valued.

3. Legal Assistance Cells and Clinics: Legal assistance clinics have been established by governments across the country. Besides making people fully aware of civil and criminal laws and specific rights and duties, these clinics and cells provide free legal assistance and representation in any given civil and criminal matters for the needy, poor, and disadvantaged persons who cannot hire the service of a lawyer to represent them in any court, tribunal or any other legal judicial form. Basic legal services such as legal advice and assistance with preparing notifications, answers, applications, and petitions, among other documents, are prioritized.

4. Seeking the aid of government: In contrast to the UK, where print and broadcast media are subject to self-regulation, the press and media in India are governed by government regulations, and political authorities also have some impact.
Since television is widely accessible, the panel tasked with legal campaigning can set up joint meetings with government representatives to emphasize sponsoring the airing of legal consciousness-related commercials and slogans. The legislative committees may also be given drafts of the laws and written or oral remarks concerning the aforesaid matters. Communicating with the audience by doing media publicity. Perhaps, all these four languages should be incorporated into the campaign, namely, Hindi and English, and the two South Indian languages[3].

5. Students can organize once a month street play or a storytelling event with more focus on the rural customers in various places. This is because traditional folk media is more relatable to people, especially in large rural areas, and is strongly ingrained in our way of life. In India, street plays have long been the most widely utilized form of entertainment and communication. They may also be used to educate the public about their rights and inspire them to take action.

OBSTACLES

The main reasons why citizens are reluctant to exercise their core legal and fundamental rights are ignorance, fear, cost, time, and effort. The basic causes of ignorance are twofold: first, some know very little about the law, and second, even those who do, seldom apply it. They seldom expect any good results from the system; that’s why they prefer to neglect their problems since they don't want to interact with them.

About the first problem. So, a sizable portion of the population in our nation lacks access to literacy, which is the fundamental capacity to read and write, and word-of-mouth is their sole source of limited legal information. They rely on understanding and interpretation in addition to facts. Therefore, it is certain that a bad impression will be formed if those who provide legal information to these marginalized groups misunderstand any legislation, omit important details, deliver the incorrect message, or use technical terminology. People could get scared and as such they may be discouraged in the undertaking of their activities. There are two categories of individuals: those who cannot read or have general illiteracy concerning their rights or remedies; there are also those who have full literacy and legal knowledge, but choose not to use the legal system. Besides, according to the opponents, the issues concerning the law exhaust intelligent people and keep them from utilizing it. These intricacies are multifaceted. Of course, even the simplest of rules are complex let alone the fact that graduate and postgraduate students cannot grasp them.

This means that colloquial languages need to be taught as well hence the need to enhance legal literacy. Terms such as “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt,” “Guilty Mind,” “Presumption of Innocence,” and so on need to be explained in simple English that people with little knowledge of English can understand. The British heritage is largely responsible for the laws and legal processes that exist in India. Successive administrations haven't done anything to alter them on a priority basis.

Language barriers are but only one of the challenges of the legislation’s nature; there are also procedural challenges. FIR, Jurisdiction, Zero-FIR, PIL, Writ-Petition, Review Petition, Appeal, Stay Order, Prohibition, and many others are even a bit complex for the two categories of citizens, the Firstly, those who are generally illiterate, and secondly, the literate but legally illiterate to seek justice. Complaint filing procedures are tough for some people. It usually entails providing excessive details. People are sometimes deterred from being engaged by the burdensome nature of the complaint form, applications to the Station House Officers (SHOs), and required papers that must be submitted with the complaint.

CONCLUSION

The goal of legal literacy is to empower common people to use the legal system to freely and fearlessly defend their legal rights. It is required to foster the growth of a critical attitude. Legal literacy goes beyond only being fully compliant with laws and regulations. A real legal literacy mission should aim to increase individuals' capacity to critically think through, weigh, accept, or reject any laws or regulations that are imposed upon them.

Having a solid understanding of the law is essential to achieving social justice. By educating people about their rights and obligations, it gives them the ability to identify injustices and take action against them. In essence, when the public is informed and particularly knowledgeable about the laws as well as the dispensation of justice, they are likely to challenge unfair treatment as well as the legal systems in place. Public legal education contributes to the creation of a society that is knowledgeable about laws that are vital for any democratic country.

Accomplishing legal awareness creates awareness of the eradication of discrimination, equal opportunities, and the opportunities for the protection of vulnerable groups. It also plays an important role in an attempt to close the existing gap between particular communities and legal structures, hence making justice more achievable. Besides, legal awareness increases civic responsibility and political activities, for given individuals will not stand and watch their rights and those of others being violated without seeking necessary legal redress.


REFERENCES:

[1] https://ncwapps.nic.in/WriteReadData/ScanDocuments/Eproposals/OfficeOrder/GuidelinesLAPFY20192020.pdf Guidelines for implementation of legal awareness programmes by National Commission for Women, September 2019.

[2] https://read.aupress.ca/read/legal-literacy/section/7fe16bd2-06b3-4042-af5b-805ad954c0ba/ What is legal literacy? Examining the concept and objectives of legal literacy.(Accessed on 29 July, 2024)

[3] Ways of spreading legal awareness in the society; Available at https://blog.ipleaders.in/legal-awareness/ (last visited 30 July, 2024)