UNIT 8 Legal Aid. What is legal aid? A state system established in the UK in 1949, whereby those people who are unable to afford legal advice and representation.

UNIT 8

Legal Aid

What is legal aid?

A state system established in the UK in 1949, whereby those people who

are unable to afford legal advice and representation in criminal and civil

matters because of their low income may have their legal bills paid by the

state if they have a suitable case.

The government provides funding for legal aid to help people on low

income to:

protect their basic rights and get a fair hearing access to the court process to sort out disputes solve problems that contribute to social exclusion

About legal aid was set-up so that everyone has EQUAL

ACCESS TO JUSTICE to the legal system

ensures different rights such as: - equality before the law - the right to counsel - the right to a fair trial

funds solicitors and agencies to advise people on their legal problems (eg. eviction, debt, family breakdown etc.) and, if necessary, represent people in court

History of legal aid 1945 - the importance of access to justice and the right to legal

representations was first recognized

Legal Aid and Advice Act 1949 – the legal aid scheme started (initially covered only civil cases; 1964 extended to criminal cases)

Legal Aid Act 1988 – handling of civil legal aid was taken from the Law Society and given to a specifically created Legal Aid Board (it funded and managed the civil legal aid scheme and legal advice)

Access to Justice Act 1999 – radically reformed the legal aid system; set up Legal Services Commission (LSC)

Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012

- amended the way that civil legal aid funding is awarded and limited the scope of issues eligible for civil legal aid funding: introduced greater ministerial control over the UK government's legal aid budget, sponzored by the Ministry of Justice

Legal Aid today is governed by:

1. The Access to Justice Act 1999Legal Services Commission – created by the

Access to Justice Act 1999 to oversee the public funding of legal services

2. Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of

Offenders Act 2012Legal Aid Agency - an executive agency of the Ministry

of Justice (MoJ) in the UK provides both civil and criminal aid and advice in England and Wales

Access to Justice Act 1999

The old legal aid scheme was replaced by two new schemes

a)the Community Legal Service for civil matters (since

1 April 2000)

a)the Criminal Defence Service for criminal matters (since 1 April 2001)

Legal Services Commission – created by the

Access to Justice Act 1999 to oversee the public

funding of legal services

LEGAL SERVICES COMMISSION

Community Legal Criminal Defence Service Service

- Solicitors’ firms - solicitors’ firms - Not for profit - NfPs organisations (NfPs) - Public Defender Service

- a body set up to run the Community Legal Service and the Criminal Defence Service; 1,500 staff

- members (wide range of expertise and experience) appointed by the Lord Chancellor

- took over the funding of civil cases from the Legal Aid Board

Responsible for :

a) managing the Community Legal Service Fund

b) making contracts with providers of all types of legal services (in earlier schemes any solicitor could provide legal services and claim fees from the state)

c) developing local, regional and national plans to match the delivery of legal services to the identified needs and priorities

Legal Services Commission (LSC)

Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 Came into force on 1st April 2013

It has removed some types of cases from the scope of legal aid funding in order to cut the legal aid costs

The cases which no longer qualify:

- Private family law (eg. Divorce and custody battles)

- Personal injury and some clinical negligence cases

- Some employment and education law

- Immigration where the person is not detained

- Some debt, housing and benefit issues

The cases which are still funded:

- Family law cases infolving domestic violence, forced marriage or child obduction

- Mental health cases

- All asylum cases

- Debt and housing matters where someone’s home is at immediate risk

The Legal Aid Agency

- a team of around 1,450 staff and offices in towns and cities across England and Wales; replaced the Legal Services Commission

- head office is in London

Responsible for : making sure legal aid services from solicitors, barristers and the not-for-

profit sector are available to the general public funding the Civil Legal Advice Service (a help line in England and Wales

where you, if you qualify for legal aid, can get free legal advice) publishing evidence about the decisions we make on whether or not to

fund a case running the Public Defender Service to give a range of services within

the criminal defence market (a smaller number of public defenders are employed by the Legal Aid Agency in Public Defender Service offices in order to provide advice in police stations and advocacy in magistrates and crown courts)

Providers of legal services

Legal Aid Agency grants contracts to service providers

A) solicitors’ firms

B) advice agencies (Citizens’ Advice Bureaux and Law Centres)

C) welfare associations

D) consumer protection groups

- all providers must meet certain minimum standards and

undergo regular quality audits

Priority for funding

- child protection cases- cases where a person is at risk of loss of life or

liberty- other cases concerning the welfare of children- domestic violence cases- cases alleging serious wrong-doing or breaches

of human rights by public bodies- ‘social welfare’ cases (housing proceedings,

employment rights, social security entitlement, debt)

Who is eligible for legal aid?MEANS TEST = is supposed to establish whether the

candidate is on low levels of income and capital

(people receiving Income Support or Income Based Job Seeker’s Allowance automatically qualify)

MERIT TEST (for representation) =

a)Civil cases – the test on whether the case has a reasonable chance of success and the damages will be worth more than the costs)

b)Criminal cases - the test on whether a defendant’s case is in the interest of justice (whether it is relevant enough to be funded publicly)

Legal aid in civil and criminal matters

Legal aid in civil matters:1/ Legal Help

2/ Help at Court

3/ Legal Representation

4/ Support Funding

Levels of Criminal Defence Service:1/Duty solicitors at the police station

2/Advice and assistance

3/Legal representation

Legal Aid Reading comprehension

4. Full-time lawyers who work in legal advice centres set up by local councils in working-class areas give specialist advice on problems that worry ordinary people such as hire-purchase problems criminal offences maintenance political offences problems of landlords and tenants.

5. Legal advice centres are open during working hours in the evenings over the weekend

Essential terms- access to justice = dostupnost

pravde/sudstva

- to deny access to justice = osporiti dostupnost pravde

- to be accessible to = biti dostupan

- to seek justice = tražiti pravdu

- legal advice, assistance and representation = pravni savjet, pomoć, zastupanje

- to be eligible (ineligible) for legal aid = biti prihvatljiv, ispunjavati preduvjete za besplatnu pravnu pomoć;

- eligibility = prihvatljivost, ispunjavanje uvjeta

- to seek legal aid = tražiti pravnu pomoć

- to provide legal aid = davati, pružati pravnu pomoć

- to obtain legal aid = dobiti pravnu pomoć

- to provide --- a provider --- provision of legal aid

- to litigate = parničiti, voditi spor

- litigation = sudski postupak, parnica

- a litigant = stranka u parnici

- to grant a contract to a service provider = odobriti ugovor prožatelju usluge (davanja besplatne pravne pomoći)

- means and merit test = test prihoda i imovinskog stanja te utemeljenosti slučaja

- to sort out = settle a dispute = riješiti spor

- hire-purchase= kupnja na otplatu/obročna kupnja

- maintenance = uzdržavanje

- to be on Supplementary Benefit = primati socijalnu pomoć (za osobe bez prihoda)

- Family Income Benefit = obiteljski doplatak obiteljima s malim primanjima

Vocabulary practice I

Study the text in the book and find English equivalents for the following Croatian legal terms. 

dati predmet na sud = dobiti pravnu pomoć = građanski postupak = optužba za kazneno djelo = parnica/sudski spor = prethodna istraga = kupnja na otplatu = uzdržavanje =

Vocabulary practice II

Supply the required terms.

1. ………………………………………… = A form of credit; the system under which the person who hires the goods becomes the owner of them after the last installment of the amount fixes has been paid.

2. ………………………………………… = A payment made by the state to people whose income is below the recognized minimum level.

3. …………………………………………. = The process of bringing an action in a court of law

4. …………………………………………. = A welfare payment made by the state to people with no income.

5. …………………………………………. = Providing children or other persons in a position of dependence, with the necessary means of living.

6. …………………………………………. = Inquiries into the basic facts of a case undertaken before the formal opening of a legal proceedings.

Legal Aid Reading comprehension

Read the text «Legal Aid» and choose the correct endings for the following sentences:

1. 'Legal Aid' for people of limited means has been available in Britain since 1949 1972.

2. Before the Legal Advice and Assistance Act of 1972 was passed free services of a solicitor were obtainable for litigation (trial) preparation of a will writing letters giving advice.

3. Local Citizens' Advice Bureaus make a preliminary investigation of the case represent people in a court of law refer the person to a solicitor operating the service.