The Scheme

The Begining

The LPILP was launched at a meeting of stakeholders held on the 8th of November, 2012 by His Excellency, Governor Babatunde R. Fashola. The LPILP was conceived as a platform for the state to partner with private NGOs and law firms to provide pro bono legal services to indigent citizens in the community.

Our Vision

Access to justice for all indigent, disadvantaged, marginalised residents in the community.

Our Mission

The LPILP is a public and private collaborative, supportive, legal service pro bono project aimed at enhancing access to justice and addressing other legal needs of the indigent, disadvantaged and marginalised residents in the community.

The collaborating partners are united in the commitment to provide pro bono legal service in all manner of criminal, civil and administrative matters where legal aid may be limited.

Goals

The goal of LPILP is to expand access to justice and further secure the right of every citizen to justice, irrespective of his or her financial means. The LPILP seeks to develop a model of legal services delivery to the indigent that can be replicated in the other states of the federation. The Global Network for Public Interest Law (PILnet) and the Justice Research Institute (JRI) helped to provide the technical assistance necessary to develop and initiate standards and quality control measures that will ensure that those receiving pro bono legal services will benefit from the same high standards as fee-paying clients. The scheme has been registered as an Incorporated Trustee under Part C of the Companies and Allied Maters Act 2004 (CAMA) and is managed by a Board of Trustees.

Achievements

The Lagos Public Interest Law Partnership currently has the following in its database:

One hundred and seventy-four(174) law firms and forty-three (43) NGOs have made a commitment to provide pro bono legal services.
Three hundred and fifty-five (355) pro bono cases have been screened and transferred to the registered law firms and NGOs.
One thousand and thirty-eight (1038) indigent persons have been provided with quality legal representation. This figure includes two (2) public interest class action lawsuits of one hundred (100) people and forty-eight (48) people respectively.