Using the Section 36 Procedure

18. Organize legal aid camps with legal aid providers 

The Persons with Disabilities Rights and Protection Act, 2013 (DRPA) creates a procedure by which persons with disabilities can file complaints to remedy disability rights violations with district committees. The Section 36 procedure is an important avenue for persons with disabilities to seek justice outside of court, because many persons with disabilities have difficulty accessing assistance required to file cases in court. Also, many persons with disabilities may lack confidence to seek out assistance in order to seek remedies for rights violations they have experienced.

USAID’s EPD program has supported 14 district-level legal aid camps that have reached over 1,000 persons with disabilities and their supporters in order to inform them of their rights under the DRPA and also to connect them with Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) staff and panel lawyers as well as DPO representatives who can assist them to prepare Section 36 applications. DPOs have collaborated with legal aid providers to organize events attracting over a hundred persons with disabilities in easily accessible venues and facilitating one-on-one consultations with lawyers and DPO representatives who can give them legal and other types of advice at no cost. DPOs should consider partnering with local legal aid organizations in order to encourage persons with disabilities to exercise their DRPA rights.

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This domain was previously home to a joint report by NGDO, NCDW, and BLAST entitled “Current Status of Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Bangladesh: Legal and Grassroots Perspectives 2015,” produced with funding from the Disability Rights Fund. It is now available here.