Innovation comes in different shapes and styles but the one core principles that make it worth celebrating is the fact it’s always tailored to serve the community and makes our lives better. In the same spirit to revolutionize access to justice, the Uganda Law society (ULS) in its annual pro bono day launched a mobile application dubbed as “PulidaWo App” over the weekend to increase awareness on the law and bridge the gap in legal aid service delivery.
The App is currently available on Google play store and will operate on the framework of a two-sided marketplace for accessing Pro Bono legal aid/case across the country. Both lawyers and clients will use the same platform to get updates on various legal works and lawyers can reach out to clients for free and serve their needs.
Pro Bono is generally used to describe professional legal aid work undertaken voluntarily and without payment or at a low cost to vulnerable or underprivileged person and according to Uganda Law Society, the PulidaWo App contains information/profile of Lawyers who have signed up to it, which information is open to end users and clients looking to get potential help on the law.
READ ABOUT: Five Mobile Apps That Can Work on Your computer
How to use the PulidaWo App?
Upon downloading and installing the PulidaWa app from Google Play Store, you can go ahead and sign up using your Gmail accounts or Facebook details to gain access to the platform. You can then go ahead and request for a lawyer from within the app for your cases and your request will be directed to advocates and lawyers within your location to reach out to you for help.
This is good program by Uganda Law Society to narrow the gap in legal aid service delivery and give legal professionals a shot to make a difference to the disadvantaged and the voiceless through the Pro Bono cases but there seems to be lot of limitations upfront.
Most of the disadvantaged people in our community don’t have access to smartphones hence hindering the essence of the app especially to the people who should be benefiting from the services. Regardless, there’s always room for improvement and maybe ULS and partners will find a way to refine the processes and tailor the app to reach the right audience perhaps this is a right move to advance legal aid services and I look forward to what it has to offer in the long run.
