Costs, time & cultural diffs

Question 1

What are the costs associated with CJS?

Answer 1

They are mainly the costs of legal representation

Question 2

What are the measures in place to address costs (and drawbacks)?

Answer 2

• Provision of free legal aid through VLA and CLCs & pro-bono institutions (increased demand and limited
  funding, most of the community is not eligible for legal aid)
• Use of committal proceedings to ‘filter out’ weak cases and avoid unnecessary trials (may be limited measure to those accused who are committed to stand trial
• Use of plea negotiations to resolve criminal cases, avoiding trial.

Question 3

What principles do costs limit?

Answer 3

• Access: Those with limited financial means struggle in affording legal advice, therefore have difficulty understanding their legal rights (affects informed basis)
• Equality: Those who cannot afford legal representation substantially disadvantage accused in court, not having an equal opportunity in presenting their defense

Question 4

What is time associated with the CJS?

Answer 4

It is present through time delays and backlog of cases (due to complexities of cases or other reasonable delays)

Question 5

What are the measures put in place to address time delays?

Answer 5

• Guilty pleas (avoid need for trial)
• Temporary judge-alone trials sought to address the issue in COVID
• Improved technology and increasing use of virtual hearings may also lift some pressure from courts

Question 6

What principles do time delays limit?

Answer 6

• Access: time delays & lengthiness of court processes can result in accused persons who cannot take time away from employment being unable to pursue their case, thereby being unduly pressured into pleading guilty (not properly accessing legal system)
• Fairness: Accused persons who do not have the time to prepare their defence (e.g. due to employment or being remanded) may struggle to obtain a fair hearing as they may have to rush their criminal defenses and may fail to properly prepare for crucial court procedures

Question 7

What are the cultural differences associated with CJS?

Answer 7

Lack of knowledge of the legal system, lack of understanding of the English
language, failure of the legal system to account for differences, and cultural misunderstandings. (eg. body lang., direct questioning & cultural taboos)

Question 8

What are the measures in place to address the culture differences?

Answer 8

• Free access to an interpreter (however one may not be readily available)
• Koori court: seeks to address cultural differences face by First Nations offenders (sentencing court for First Nations offenders only)
• VLA & some CLCs information can be provided in diff. languages

Question 9

What principles do cultural differences limit?

Answer 9

• Fairness: Underlying discrimination & racial bias of jurors or judge
• Equality: Cultural differences may cause judge/jury to view accused favorably/unfavorably, hindering formal equality (equal treatment)
• Access: Lack of intercultural understanding language barriers, and cultural differences, including a poor understanding of the law and rules of evidence and procedure can severely hinder an accused’s understanding of their legal rights.