Identify sources of legal advice
Describe the methods of funding civil and criminal legal action
Analyse and evaluate the effectiveness of these different methods of funding
Finance of advice and representation
Learning objectives
By the end of this topic you will be able to:
Identify sources of legal advice
Describe the methods of funding civil and criminal legal action
Analyse and evaluate the effectiveness of these different methods
of funding
Accessing legal advice and representation is considered important.
Otherwise people may not be treated equally under the law and people
may not know how to enforce their legal rights. Court procedures can be
complicated so there is a range of people and bodies that offer legal
advice.
TASK
identify as many sources of legal advice as possible, indicating how that
organisation helps people:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Obtaining legal advice and representation from a lawyer can be
expensive. Although some people are able to pay for it themselves, many
are not. Therefore, to promote access to justice, there are a variety of
alternative methods of financing legal cases. The Access to Justice Act
1999 replaced the Legal Aid Board with the Legal Services Commission
the aim of which is “to promote and develop legal services that can be
delivered within a controlled budget and to target them according to
need.” Many changes have been made in 2013 and you will identify and
focus on these within the pack.
, Raheel Malik
The Commission splits legal advice and representation into two parts:
Criminal Legal Aid
Civil Legal Aid
Solicitors firms and other organisations that wish to provide government
funded legal services must have a contract to do so and must reach
certain minimum standards.
Criminal Legal Aid
What is its purpose?
To ensure that people who have been accused of a criminal act have
complete access to advice, assistance or representation.
What are the different types of service?
1. Duty solicitor scheme (advice)
2. advocacy assistance
3. representation
Duty Solicitor Scheme
Under this scheme, a duty solicitor is available to give advice free of
charge to a person who is being detained or questioned by police. At the
court, a duty solicitor will advise defendants and may also represent a
person in court when there is an emergency situation eg a bail
application. There is no means or merits test. Research and identify
the main elements of these.
Advocacy Assistance
This covers the initial cost of a solicitor preparing a case and initial
representation in the Magistrates and Crown Court. There is no financial
test but there is a merits test which assesses whether or not the
seriousness of the criminal charge and the facts of the case warrant
assistance.
Representation
This covers the cost of a solicitor to prepare a criminal defence, present it
in court and cover ancillary matters such as bail applications. The financial
test applies and also an “interests of justice test” ie whether it is in
the “interests of justice” that the accused be represented. Research and
identify the main elements of the “interests of justice test”.
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