Question 3
In the early times of the legal profession, not acting for the poor was considered to be a “mortal sin” and could potentially even lead to losing one’s profession. Ever since the 15th century, through the so called “Poor’s Role”, it became customary for legal professionals to offer their expertise without charging those who could not afford to pay for it. However, this has always been more of a “façade” requirement and there were always ways to avoid taking on the workload-for example, by passing it on to a less experienced colleague.
Even though the Rule of Law implies that everyone should be entitled to have access to the courts and legal advice, not too much imagination is needed to understand that access to justice has always been reserved for those more well off (or, at least, access to the right kind of advice). There have always been plenty of obstacles in the way of people’s access to legal advice: lack of money and knowledge, a negative attitude towards solicitors, segregated societies etc. Even though help is always available in some form, many citizens choose to do nothing and drop their claims, hoping that their legal issues will disappear on their own. Money is undoubtedly the most common reason for people being denied access to justice. It is for this reason that (since the law is supposed to be just and equitable towards everyone) governments are generally trying to help pay for those less privileged in the form of various types of legal aid.
The Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) is the body which administers the ways in which legal aid is to be disbursed in Scotland. The Board now has power to employ solicitors, under the Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 1986. Fixed rates are set for the fees to be paid towar...
... middle of paper ...
...ge regarding the enforcement of their rights. Free advice is given to anyone in Scotland through the Bureaus and people are presently more empowered than ever before in the past.
Legal aid developed throughout history until reaching a point when it became a huge part of the “welfare state”. We are now evolving towards a more individualistic society. People used to think that it is their duty as citizens to support their peers, and legal aid was a part of this support. Helping those unable to help themselves was the norm for a very long time. However, the welfare system is slowly dissipating and one must now rely more heavily on his own resources. Even though, being part of a capitalistic society, the state is less and less likely to intervene, legal aid mechanisms are still in place to guarantee similar (if slightly less) rights as used to be the case in the past.
Justice can be achieved through various processes and principles if applied correctly, similarly justice can also be denied through these same processes and principles. This is exemplified through the Andrew Mallard case (M v The Queen 2005 HCA 68), and the missing persons case of Kieffen Raggett (2007) which shows how the incorrect application of processes like police investigations and coronial inquests can lead to justice being denied. Furthermore, legal principles such as; the rights of the accused and victims, are instrumental in achieving justice as shown through the application of these principles within these cases. These processes and principles can fail due to prejudged conclusions, police corruption, human error and cultural barriers
A plea bargain is compliance between a prosecutor and defendant in which the accused offender agrees to plead guilty in return for some compromise from the prosecutor. The New Jim Crow, explains how most Americans have no clue on how common it is for people to be prosecuted without proper legal representation and are sentenced to jail when innocent out of fear. Tens of thousands of poor people go to jail every year without ever talking to a lawyer that could possibly help them. Over four decades ago, the American Supreme Court ruled that low-income people who are accused of serious crimes are entitled to council, but thousands of people are processed through America’s courts annually with a low resource lawyer, or no lawyer at all. Sometimes
It is more difficult for governments to provide adequate salaries to public defense lawyers and the result is that these lawyers are often more inexperienced (Fairfax, 2013). Since the amount of defendants who are unable to afford private counsel has increased, public defense lawyers are also overworked. It is not uncommon for public defense lawyers to juggle hundreds of cases simultaneously (Fairfax, 2013). In other words, the system is unable to handle the volume and has therefore resorted to avoiding the trial process whenever
Justice was dilatory, expensive, uncertain, and remote. To the rich it was a costly lottery: to the poor a denial of right, or certain ruin. The class who might profit most by its dark mysteries were the lawyers themselves. (Plucknett 73)
Children act 1995 – this act provides the legislative framework for Scotland’s child protection system. Parental responsibilities and rights. Duties and powers public authorities must support and intervene if there are concerns about a child.
... Human Rights in Scotland [PDF] available at Scottish Human Rights Commission website; scottishhumanrights.com/application/resources/documents/SNAP-GettingitRightAnOverviewofHumanRightsinScotland2012.pdf (p.215)
Throughout the years there has been limitless legal cases presented to the court systems. All cases are not the same. Some cases vary from decisions that are made by a single judge, while other cases decisions are made by a jury. As cases are presented they typically start off as disputes, misunderstandings, or failure to comply among other things. It is possible to settle some cases outside of the courts, but that does require understanding and cooperation by all parties involved. However, for those that are not so willing to settle out of court, they eventually visit the court system. The court system is not in existence to cause humiliation for anyone, but more so to offer a helping hand from a legal prospective. At the same time, the legal system is not to be abuse. or misused either.
Another guidance which helps to safeguard vulnerable adults is the Safeguarding Adults- a National framework for good practice and outcomes in adult protection work. This is a follow up from the no secrets guidance and set out some national frameworks to limit the risk of abuse. there are many different standards set out in this guidance e.g. all local authorities should have a multi-agency partnership who should representing all the agencies, all agencies must have a strategic plan ensuring there are relevant policies and procedures, training strategies, a commissioning strategy and strategies for reducing risk of abuse. this helped to set the national standards of care that should be given to vulnerable people. It also defined the ways we can give services, established ways of measuring achievement or improvements and gave people support to help implement these changes. This helps to reduce to risk of harm for vulnerable people as it helps to establish a nationwide initiative to reduce abuse of vulnerable people and multi-agency working. [5] [16]
Historically, the right to counsel was only guaranteed in federal criminal court (Wice, 2005). A person charged with a crime in the state court did not have the right to legal representation. Law scholar Professor Mason Beaney explained this by saying, “only a few states guaranteed the right to appointed counsel…In most jurisdictions counsel was appointed in none but the most serious cases, often only when the crime was punishable by death” (Wice, 2005, p. 3). Many defendants, who were poor, illiterate, and uneducated had to face the justice system without legal assistance (Smith, 2004, p. 579). Los Angeles County started one of the first public defender programs in 1914, spreading slowly to other counties (Neubauer & Fradella, 2011, p. 176). By the 1960’s, less than a dozen states still refused to provide attorneys to defendants unable to afford one (Smith, 2004).
Today, more law students are doing pro bono work than ever; a LawWorks report (2014) shows that about 70% of UK law schools offer legal services
While adversarial legalism satisfies the American want for complete protection by a purposefully fragmented government, the effects on the individual are highly undesirable. The cost and unreliability associated with litigant activism and formal contestation have the strong possibility of discouraging citizens from pushing forward in dispute and criminal claims. Unfortunately, these are the consequences of adversarial legalism in America.
I was told that my desire to enter the field of public interest would wane after my first year of community service. On the contrary, the realization of the power which a lawyer possesses has reinforced my desire to enter this arena. An advocate's work can have far reaching consequences. This is clearly true in public interest law, where the purpose is not simply to correct a wrong done in the past between two parties, but to alter the disparate treatment of an often under-represented class.
It is also argued that solicitors are too close to the issues to argue the case well. Some people say that the double manning of cases is also responsible for some inefficiency. It encourages the ‘shrugging off’ of responsibility. Responsibility can be pushed from one to the other and standards will fall. OTHER COUNTRIES
The courts of England and Wales acknowledge that the above must be something of value, in order to amount to consideration. A valuable consideration in the perspective of the English La...
were a young person wishes to obtain counsel but is not able to do so,