Law Key Words ELS🎓(Legal Aid, Law Reform) Flashcards
Access to Justice
The right to. have access to an effective remedy, equality before the law and the right to a fair. trial. These rights are protected through a number of international human rights.
Sources of legal help
• Help lines
• Citizens Advice Bureaux
• Law Centres
• Trade Unions
• Pro bono Lawyers
Private funding of cases
Anyone who can afford must pay themselves
Insurance
Another way of funding a case is through insurance
Before the event insurance
insurance which the client already had before the prospect of legal proceedings arose (for example, as part of the client’s house insurance or car insurance policies) and which covers some or all of the client’s potential costs liabilities in any subsequent proceedings.
After the event insurance
enables people to pursue a personal injury or clinical negligence claim by providing financial protection.
Conditional fee agreements
A funding arrangement between a claimant and their solicitors where the solicitors agrees to act on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis.
Civil cases- means testing
You must show you do not have enough money to pay for a lawyer
You must show you do not have disposable income to cover the costs
Disposable capital
This is the assets of the person, such as money in the bank or savings account.
Criminal cases- interests of Justice
1.it’s likely that I’ll suffer serious damage to my reputation
2.a substantial question of law may be involved
3)I may not be able to understand the court proceedings or present my own case
4)I may need witnesses to be traced or interviewed on my behalf the proceedings may involve
expert cross-examination of a prosecution witness
5)it’s in the interests of another person that I’m represented
Law Commission
The Law Commission is the statutory independent body created by the Law Commissions Act 1965 to keep the law of England and Wales under review and to recommend reform where it is needed. The aim of the Commission is to ensure that the law is: fair, modern, simple, cost effective
Reform
Where the law needs to be updated- the topics may be referred to it by the Lord Chancellor. Since 1965, 19 Statute Law Repeals Bills have been enacted, repealing more than 3,000 Acts in their entirety and thousands more in part.
Codification
Codification is the process of bringing together a legal act (or several related acts) and all its amendments into a single new act.
Consolidation
The main purpose of a consolidation project is to draw together different enactments on a topic into a single Act. The Act usually replaces provisions in different Acts (and often statutory instruments) passed over a period of years. E.G. Powers of the Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Bill
Repeal
It also proposes the repeal of laws that have become obsolete. The purpose of our statute law repeals work is to modernise and simplify the statute book, reduce its size and save the time of lawyers and others who use it.