members of the community to assess and report on the conditions of detention in police stations. In 2017 and 2018, the Human Rights Section in the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs and the Police Service conducted training sessions for members of Lay Visitors Schemes in all the regions of the country. Article 6 and 7 - Access to Justice, Right to Liberty and Security of Persons, Fair Trial Rights, and conditions of detention 123 Steps have been taken to enhance the capacity of the Legal Aid Bureau to provide free legal services. To increase access to justice, the Legal Aid Bureau set up a Legal Aid Fund pursuant to Section 39 of the Legal Aid Act. In early 2018, a Legal Aid Bureau Office was set up in Zomba to ensure access to legal representation for people in the country’s Eastern region. Plans are under way to open five (5) more district offices in different regions of the country in the 2019 -2020 financial year. In the 2020 – 2021 financial year, the Bureau is expected to open 8 more district offices. 124 The Bureau adopted the 2016-2020 Strategic Plan that is aligned to the Democratic Governance Sector Strategy, and overall National Strategy in order to set out its objectives during this period and how they will be achieved. This will improve the efficiency of the Bureau. During the 2015 to 2016 fiscal year the Bureau handled 4663 criminal cases and 6039 civil cases. The Bureau also managed to provide legal aid clinics to 25 prisons across the country. As at May 2018, the Bureau had 13 lawyers and 19 paralegals. 125 The Prisons Act has been reviewed by the Malawi Law Commission. The Commission has submitted a comprehensive report and a proposed bill to the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs. This will be followed by consideration by Cabinet before tabling of the bill in Parliament. 126 The Government is fully aware of the Gable Masangano v Attorney General judgment on improving prison conditions. The Human Rights Section in the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs in collaboration with the Malawi Human Rights Commission and the Malawi Prison Service intend to carry out an assessment of the impact of the Masangano judgment and the extent to which it was complied with. There are plans to construct a maximum security prison at Chitedze in Central Malawi. Once completed, the 36