Page 27 - KDU INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE

KDU International Journal of Criminal Justice (KDUIJCJ)
Volume I | Issue II| July 2024

“Should Legal Aid be confined to the provision of assistance in litigation;
or should advice and other legal services be included? Is it simply about

assisting poor people to litigate or is it an integral element in the process

of ensuring equality before the law by the provision of necessary
assistance to all those who cannot otherwise assert their rights or defend

their claims. What is the role of legal aid in preventive law? Has legal aid

a role in the task of nation building through the empowerment and
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integration of the excluded and isolated members of the community?

The broad area of child protection revolving around children in need of
protection and care has to be studied and reflected upon extensively.

Orphanages have been discontinued all over the world. In her monograph
titled: The effects of institutionalization in children: how Sri Lanka’s

dependance on orphanages hurts kids, Monica Nauman states: ‘Decades

of research has demonstrated the adverse psychological and physical
effects that institutional care has on children compared to children raised

in stable family environments. These studies have prompted many

children’s rights advocates to work towards deinstitutionalization, a
policy that aims to eliminate institutionalized care for vulnerable

children, and replace it with family-based or alternative care solutions.
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Upeksha was born out of wedlock to a poor Mother. The Mother worked

as a Maid for a living. While she was working in houses, she got a job

14 Wijeratne and de Mel (eds) ‘Legal Aid in Sri Lanka (Legal Aid Foundation and Bar
Association of Sri Lanka 2002)

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