PERAN ADVOKAT DALAM MEMBERIKAN PELAYANAN HUKUM SECARA CUMA-CUMA TERHADAP ORANG YANG TIDAK MAMPU DI DEWAN PIMPINAN CABANG PERHIMPUNAN ADVOKAT INDONESIA KOTA PADANG

The provision of free legal aid is a manifestation of the principle of equality before the law and guarantees access to justice for the underprivileged as stipulated in Law Number 18 of 2003 concerning Advocates and Law Number 16 of 2011 concerning Legal Aid. However, in practice, the implementation of legal aid still faces various obstacles that have the potential to affect the effectiveness of services. This study aims to analyze the effectiveness of providing free legal aid by Advocates at DPC PERADI Padang City, identify obstacles faced in its implementation, and examine the efforts made to overcome these obstacles. The formulation of the problem in this study includes: (1) How effective is the provision of legal aid to the underprivileged community by Advocates at DPC PERADI Padang City, (2) What are the obstacles faced in its implementation, and (3) How efforts are made to overcome these obstacles. The research method used is sociological juridical research with a legislative approach and a field approach through interviews with advocates who are members of the DPC PERADI Padang Legal Aid Center and document studies. The results of the study show that sociologically the implementation of legal aid has run in accordance with the applicable legal provisions, but still faces obstacles in the form of limited funding, geographical constraints, low public legal awareness, potential abuse of disability status, and lack of optimal coordination with other law enforcement officials. To overcome these obstacles, PBH DPC PERADI Padang has taken various strategic steps, including expanding the advocate network, conducting field verification, increasing legal socialization, and establishing institutional cooperation to support the sustainability of legal aid programs.