Access To Justice- Crimminal Cases Flashcards
Government funding for criminal cases 8
- Legal Aid Agency State funding of legal cases was introduced after WW2 as part of the establishment of the welfare state. Problem = costs ever increasing. New system introduced by LASPO Act 2012 - the Legal Aid Agency in the Ministry of Justice. The legal aid agency makes deals with law firms to provide legal services to people charged with a criminal offence. Most service providers are solicitors.
- Government funded Legal advice Duty solicitor scheme - Anyone held at a police station has the right to free legal advice. Duty solicitor 24hrs a day. Advice can be given over phone/ in person. In 2016 advice was given to over 650,000 suspects at police stations. 3. Government funded Legal Representation In order to get representation in court for a criminal case, the defendant must be within one of five ‘interests of justice’ factors:
If matters arise against him, would the defendant be likely to lose his liberty or livelihood or suffer severely damaged reputation.
The case will involve consideration of a point of law.
The defendant is unable to understand the court proceedings or unable to state his own case.
The case may involve tracing, interviewing or expert cross examination of witnesses.
It is in the interests of another person that the person be represented (eg. Rape)
- Means testing - Magistrates’ Court An in – or – out scheme as they are either eligible or ineligible. Eligible – income support, under the age of 16, under 18 in full time education. Others are tested on disposable income – the levels are very low so about ¾ of adults do not qualify. Earn over £22,325 not entitled. Earn under £12,475 automatically entitled. Between £12,475 - £22,325 may require a contribution. If you are convicted may have to pay prosecution costs.
- Means testing – Crown Court No limit on the upper level for disposable income – most defendants can receive legal aid. Free for those on low incomes, those in the middle bracket between low and £37000 pay towards it – those above are not eligible. If found guilty may have to pay extra from capital, if not guilty may get a refund.
Problems with GOVERNMENT funding of CIVIL and CRIMINAL cases (12)
Advice deserts Not enough legal service providers as rate of pay is so low, not economically viable. Few solicitors specialise in welfare benefits. LASPO 2012 alters the criteria, therefore continues to decline. In the year 2000, approx.. 5000 law firms doing civil legal aid work, by 2016 there were 1500!
Non – availability Funding is not available for many civil claims. E.g. Personal injury claims have to be funded privately. Many people choose no win no fee schemes. This is a disadvantage to people wanting to bring an employment claim against large companies. Therefore,many people go without access to justice.
Eligibility Only people on very low levels can qualify. Only ¼ of people qualify for legal aid representation in Magistrates’ Court. March 2016 – over 20 lawyers and directors of legal aid charities wrote a letter to The Guardian newspaper… ‘We believe the legal aid reforms have had a severe impact on the ability of vulnerable people to access justice since they came into effect on 1 April 2013….the cuts have limited Access to Justice for some of those who need Legal Aid the most’.
Criteria set by the Lord Chancellor In 2013 the Lord Chancellor set criteria for making legal services available to individuals. These criteria were intended to restrict the circumstances in which legal aid was to be granted and were controversial. The legality of the guidance in s10 was challenged in the courts. The Court of Appeal held that legal aid would be granted where failure to do so would be in breach of the ECHR, therefore the guidance was revised.
Lack of funds Each year the government sets a budget for all its departments. Services such as health and education have to have large amounts of money. This means that government money for legal cases is limited. Civil cases have been refused to save £350 million from the national budget. However, some people would argue that the money is better spent on services such as NHS, especially when other routes to funding (such as conditional fee arrangements) are available.
