LEGAL AID IN NIGERIA: USING NATIONAL YOUTH SERVICE CORPS PUBLIC DEFENDERS TO EXPAND THE SERVICES OF THE LEGAL AID COUNCIL

2003 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
David McQuoid–Mason
Keyword(s):  
Justice System ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Attorney General ◽  
Public Defender ◽  
Legal Aid ◽  
Sector Reform ◽  
Public Defenders ◽  
Youth Service ◽  
Administration Of Justice ◽  
The Cost

At the National Consultative Forum on Transforming the Administration of Justice System in Nigeria, convened by the Federal Minister of Justice and the Federal Attorney-General in November 2001, it was decided to draft a National Action Plan on Justice Sector Reform in Nigeria and to produce a Justice Vision document. The Ministry of Justice and the Attorney-General's office identified the need to examine ways of (a) upholding the Constitution and the rule of law; (b) promoting justice, fairness and human dignity; and (c) incorporating and expanding community participation in the administration of justice. The Legal Aid Council of Nigeria could contribute to this process by establishing a public defender network using law graduates in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). It may be possible to use the NYSC scheme to expand dramatically the current level of legal aid in Nigeria by employing the services of NYSC law graduates more extensively as public defenders. In order to consider the feasibility of such a programme the following factors will be considered: (i) the availability of lawyers and law graduates; (ii) the duties imposed by the Nigerian Constitution; (iii) the function of the Legal Aid Council; (iv) the operation of the Legal Aid Council; (v) the provision of legal aid services by the Legal Aid Council; and (vi) the cost of establishing a structured NYSC public defender programme.

Indigent’s Right to State Funded Legal Aid in Ethiopia

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 120-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hussein Ahmed Tura
Keyword(s):  
Justice System ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Legal Aid ◽  
Criminal Cases ◽  
Public Defenders ◽  
The Public ◽  
Legal Advice ◽  
Overall Justice ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
Almost All

This article examines the extent to which state-funded legal aid in criminal cases is recognized and implemented in Ethiopia. The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) Constitution and human rights treaties to which Ethiopia is a party recognize an indigent’s right to defense counsel at state expense where the interests of justice so require. However, on the basis of available data collected from the courts, the police stations and prisons, this article finds that the implementing institutions, such as the Office of Public Defenders, are not operating effectively and moreover the public generally lacks legal awareness. These impediments have in turn contributed to a number of indigent accused being tried and convicted without the benefit of legal advice and representation at different stages of proceedings. It has also been found that almost all unrepresented accused have committed serious errors in said proceedings. In addition, lack of legal aid affects the overall justice system since the indigent cannot defend themselves against trained prosecutors armed with state power. In this article it is argued that in order for Ethiopia to implement an indigent’s right to state-funded legal aid, an independent legal aid agency must be established, which should be responsible for the administration of legal aid.

scholarly journals The Legal Aid Trade

1969 ◽  
pp. 65
Author(s):  
Christopher Dudley Evans
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Theoretical Basis ◽  
The United States ◽  
Present System ◽  
Public Defender ◽  
Legal Aid ◽  
Public Defenders ◽  
Defence Counsel ◽  
The Law

Members of the Law Society of Alberta have undertaken to provide compre hensive legal aid service in order to enable Albertans of insufficient means to be represented by counsel in court. Mr. Evans feels the present legal aid system, while founded on strong theoretical basis, has not accomplished its objectives. The author points out that the system has experienced rising costs coupled with diminishing quality in the legal aid provided. Various abuses of the legal aid system are presented and Mr. Evans notes that the essential weakness of the system lies in its failure to provide defence counsel "approximating the ability of the Crown Prosecutor". To alleviate this inequity the author submits that Public Defenders Office should be established to operate on much the same basis as the Crown Prosecutors Office. This would consistently provide competent defence counsel who are acceptable to the court. Mr. Evans suggests, after review of the costs of the present system and of several Public Defender systems in the United States, that such counsel can be provided at less expense than the current legal aid system.

scholarly journals Access to Prison Law Libraries as a Precursor to Effective Administration of Justice in Nigeria: Lessons from the United States of America

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 110-119
Author(s):  
Oludayo John Bamgbose
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Attorney General ◽  
Criminal Procedure ◽  
The United States ◽  
Direct Response ◽  
Procedure Code ◽  
Administration Of Justice ◽  
Effective Administration

A decade after the inauguration of the national working group on the reform of criminal justice administration in Nigeria by the then Attorney General of the Federation, Chief Akin Olujinmi, SAN, Nigeria was presented with a newly signed law—Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), which was a direct response to the growing call for reforms that would address the plethora of problems confronting the administration of the criminal justice system in Nigeria. The 495-section law harmonized the existing two principal laws: the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA) and the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC), which hitherto governed the administration of criminal justice system across all Federal-owned Courts in Nigeria and the Courts within the Federal Capital Territory. Both CPA and CPC operated for many decades in Nigeria, but had many challenges, hence the urgency for the newcomer— ACJA.

A Permanent Crisis

Free Justice ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 117-150
Author(s):  
Sara Mayeux
Keyword(s):  
Plea Bargaining ◽  
Public Defender ◽  
Legal Aid ◽  
Public Defenders ◽  
Indigent Defense ◽  
Private Charity ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Trial Advocacy ◽  
Reform Organizations

This chapter traces the rocky implementation of Gideon v. Wainwright between 1963 and 1973, continuing the Massachusetts case study begun in chapter 2 and also addressing developments in Philadelphia and other localities. Although states could technically comply with Gideon in a variety of ways (e.g. appointing private counsel case-by-case),many lawyers and reform organizations interpreted Gideon as a broader mandate to establish and expand institutionalized public defender offices. The Ford Foundation and the National Legal Aid and Defender Association (NLADA) embarked upon the National Defender Project, an ambitious nationwide effort. As a result of such efforts, the 1960s witnessed change and growth in public defender offices around the country. In Massachusetts, for example, the organization initially founded as a voluntary defender was converted from a private charity into a statewide public defender agency, hired dozens of new lawyers, and was soon handling tens of thousands of cases each year. Yet, criticisms quickly emerged that public defenders had overwhelming caseloads and resorted too often to plea bargaining, rather than trial advocacy. Reformers diagnosed a new problem, the “indigent defense crisis” that persists today.

Local Injustice

Free Justice ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 151-180
Author(s):  
Sara Mayeux
Keyword(s):  
Mass Incarceration ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Public Defender ◽  
Legal Aid ◽  
Criminal Courts ◽  
Public Defenders ◽  
The Public ◽  
Indigent Defense ◽  
War On Crime ◽  
The Government

With snapshots of Massachusetts and Mississippi, among other examples, this chapter continues to trace how the implementation of Gideon v. Wainwright fell short of expectations in local communities. In particular, it examines some of the efforts funded by the National Defender Project, an initiative of the Ford Foundation and the National Legal Aid and Defender Association (NLADA). This initiative funded the establishment and expansion of public defender offices around the country. Yet many challenges remained. Criminal defendants themselves complained that public defenders did not sufficiently understand their circumstances—spurring new experiments like the “community defender,” a new model of public defender with stronger ties to the neighborhoods where many defendants lived. By the early 1970s, as indigent defense reformers continued to navigate these challenges, the government had declared “War on Crime” and criminal caseloads had begun to rise—early harbingers of the phenomenon later labelled mass incarceration. Over the course of the twentieth century, lawyers had coalesced in theory around the idea of the public defender as a means to guarantee equality in the criminal courts, but remained unsuccessful at fully implementing that idea around the country.

A critical analysis of the anti-corruption policy of the national judicial council of Nigeria

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 253-263
Author(s):  
Ehi Eric Esoimeme
Keyword(s):  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Preventive Measures ◽  
Attorney General ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Medical Illness ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Administration Of Justice ◽  
Speed Up

Purpose This paper aims to examine the new anti-corruption policy of the National Judicial Council of Nigeria to determine the level of effectiveness of its preventive measures and to provide recommendations on how the policy could be strengthened. Design/methodology/approach This paper relies mainly on primary and secondary data drawn from the public domain. It also relies on documentary research. Findings This paper determined that the anti-corruption policy of the National Judicial Council of Nigeria could achieve its desired objectives if the following recommendations are implemented: The Central Bank of Nigeria should permanently discontinue production of large denomination bank notes like the 1,000 naira notes and the 500 naira note. This policy will make it more difficult for corrupt judicial officers to smuggle significant amounts of cash out of Nigeria. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria should be amended to allow ordinary citizens to participate in the criminal justice system. The jury system will speed up corruption trials, reduce bias, corrupt inducement of judges and enhance administration of justice in Nigeria. Statutes and civil procedure rules should require lawyers to certify “after reasonable enquiry” that motions have not been interposed for delay. As most courts experience high rates of adjournment because of medical illness, the adjournment policy of the National Judicial Council of Nigeria should be amended to require a doctors’ certificate and, if necessary, require the doctor to appear, with costs met by the lawyer. The National Judicial Council of Nigeria should be constitutionally mandated to provide the Attorney General of the Federation with a copy of any petition filed against a judicial officer by a member of the public. Research limitations/implications This paper focuses on the new anti-corruption policy of the National Judicial Council of Nigeria. It does not address the older policies. Originality/value This paper offers a critical analysis of the new anti-corruption policy of the National Judicial Council of Nigeria. The paper will provide recommendations on how the policy could be strengthened. This is the only paper to adopt this kind of approach.

FUNCTIONING OF THE MENTAL DEFENSES IN THE CONDUCT OF INTERROGATION WITHIN THE CRIMINAL PROCESS

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 2161-2165
Author(s):  
Hristo Ivanov Popnikolov
Keyword(s):  
Objective Assessment ◽  
Critical Conditions ◽  
Criminal Process ◽  
External Influences ◽  
Administration Of Justice ◽  
Individual Protection ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Subjective Side

From the subject presented in the report it is evident that the pre-trial and the court bodies may, to some extent, be influenced both by the person of the accused and by his competence to participate in the criminal process. In this regard as an expert, the psychologist can offer invaluable assistance. Each expertise would assist all actors involved in the administration of justice on their objective assessment of the offenders, the understanding of their individual protection and the inherent self-justification during procedural actions. The involvement of psychologists in the criminal process is key to establishing the truth in the investigation, because every crime as an act has a subjective side, expressed in the psychic attitude of the perpetrator to the committed act. Establishing these psychological motives is a key point in the criminal process with a view to establishing the truth.Psychological protection stabilizes the personality in the critical conditions of counteraction, related to the elimination of the experiences of tension, anxiety, stress and frustration, leading to maximum mobilization of its resources and at the same time to their overpayment. Thus, the individual who is the subject of the process action is protected against the adverse external influences, but at the cost of a lot of effort and enormous loss of nervous-mental energy, which increases his own vulnerability instead of contributing to its reduction. The appearance and functioning of psychological protection can be significantly impeded by the interaction of the investigator with the accused. Even more complicated is the situation when it breaks the communication contact that may arise in the psychological alienation and self-isolation of the accused due to the desire to protect himself.Protective psychological dominance is a real psychic activity that investigators, investigators, investigators and judges need to take into account in order to effectively deal with their task and to overcome the resistance of the investigated persons and in a time to prove in a lawful and moral way their guilt and participation in the commitment of the crimes.

FISCAL EQUIVALENCE: PRINCIPLE AND PREDATION IN THE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE

2021 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 244-265
Author(s):  
Emily C. Skarbek
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Equivalence Principle ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Public ◽  
Local Police ◽  
Administration Of Justice ◽  
Internal Pressures ◽  
And Control

AbstractFiscal equivalence in the public administration of justice requires local police and courts to be financed exclusively by the populations that benefit from their services. Within a polycentric framework, broad based taxation to achieve fiscal equivalence is a desirable principle of public finance because it conceptually allows for the provision of justice to be determined by constituent’s preferences, and increases the political accountability of service providers to constituents. However, the overproduction of justice services can readily occur when the benefits of the justice system are not enjoyed equally. Paradoxically, the same properties that make fiscal equivalence desirable by imposing restraint and control between constituents and local government also create internal pressures for agents of the state to engage in predatory, revenue-generating behavior.

scholarly journals PERANAN KEJAKSAAN REPUBLIK INDONESIA DALAM PEMBERANTASAN KORUPSI DI NEGARA DEMOKRASI (Role of The Attorney General of Indonesia in Eradicating Corruption in State Democracy)

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 15
Author(s):  
Suharyo Suharyo
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Attorney General ◽  
Strong Relationship ◽  
Criminal Code ◽  
Local Officials ◽  
Strategic Position

PERANAN KEJAKSAAN REPUBLIK INDONESIADALAM PEMBERANTASAN KORUPSI DI NEGARA DEMOKRASI(Role of The Attorney General of Indonesia in Eradicating Corruption in State Democracy) The Attorney General of Indonesia plays a strategic position in corruption eradication. Since IndonesiaIndependent Day on 17 August 1945 until now, the attorney general keeps eradicate the corruption. As one of the elements of criminal justice system of the democracy state refers to the Act No.16/2004 on the Attorney General of Republic of Indonesia, and also a concern with the Act No.8/1981 on the Criminal Code (KUHAP). Corruption eradication is ruled and stipulated on the Act No.31/1999 on Corruption Eradication Jo the Act No.20/2001, and supported the Act No.8/2010 on the Criminal Act of Money Laundering . Questions of this research were what obstacles of corruption eradication in attorneys and how to make it effective? It was a normative-juridical method. It was  an impression that the Attorney General has no dare to enforce the law for the elite politician, local officials (governors,majors) because of their strong relationship with. This phenomenon triggered scholars to do long march and protest to the Attorney General to be consistent and responsive in corruption eradication. Good governance and bureaucracy reform had no big impact, the meaning of “Tri Atmaka” and “Tri Karma Adhyaksa” had truly not been absorbed and practiced, yet. Keywords: The Attorney General of Indonesia in eradicating corruption ABSTRAK Kejaksaan Republik Indonesia memegang posisi sangat strategis dalam pemberantasan korupsi. SejakProklamasi Kemerdekaan 17 Agustus 1945 sampai sekarang, Kejaksaan Republik Indonesia terus menerus melakukan pemberantasan korupsi. Sebagai salah satu unsur dari  sistem peradilan pidana (Criminal Justice System) di dalam negara demokrasi Kejaksaan RI mengacu pada Undang-Undang Nomor 16 Tahun 2004 Tentang Kejaksaan RI, dan juga memperhatikan Undang-Undang Nomor 8 Tahun 1981 tentang Hukum Acara Pidana (KUHAP). Khusus untuk pemberantasan korupsi, diatur melalui Undang-Undang Nomor 31 Tahun 1999 tentang Pemberantasan Tidak Pidana Korupsi no Undang-Undang Nomor 20 Tahun 2001, dan ditunjang Undang-Undang Nomor 8 Tahun 2010 Tentang Tindak Pidana Pencucian Uang. Adapun rumusan masalah dalam penelitian ini adalah apakah kendala yang melekat jajaran Kejaksaan dalam pemberantasan korupsi, serta Bagaimana mengefektifkan Kejaksaan RI dalam pemberantasan korupsi. Metode yang dipakai adalah yuridis normatif.Terdapat kesan, Kejaksaan RI sangat tumpul pada pelaku dari elit politik, dan pejabat daerah (Gubernur, Bupati/Walikota) yang mempunyai koneksi politik yang kuat.Sehingga tidaklah mengherankan, apabila di berbagai daerah, muncul aksi-aksi unjuk rasa dari kalangan mahasiswa yang menuntut Kejaksaan RI agar konsisten dan responsif dalam pemberantasan korupsi. Good Governance dan reformasi birokrasi, hanya berpengaruh positif, secara minimal. Makna Tri Atmaka, serta Tri Karma Adhyaksa, kurang diresapi dan kurang  diamalkan secara mendalam. Kata Kunci: Kejaksaan RI dalam pemberantasan korupsi

scholarly journals Whistleblowing: Impediments to effective implementation within the South African public sector

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 196-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nirmala Dorasamy ◽  
Soma Pillay
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
South African ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Code Of Conduct ◽  
The South ◽  
The Public ◽  
Effective Implementation ◽  
The Cost

This purpose of this article is to explore impediments to effective whistleblowing as a strategy for promoting anti-corruption practices within the South African public sector. Corruption, which violates the public service code of conduct; deters foreign investment, increases the cost of public service delivery, undermines the fight against poverty and unnecessarily burdens the criminal justice system. The article addresses the question on whether legislation on whistleblowing is adequate to encourage whistleblowing in the public sector. A review of literature determines that the effective implementation of whistleblowing legislation is largely dependent on addressing the challenges identified in the article. The quantitative research method was employed in the study to ascertain the views of employees in the public sector on whistleblowing. Empirical findings confirm the hypothesis that the protection of whistleblowers through legislation is inadequate to encourage whistleblowing. The article provides a conceptual framework for the effective achievement of the intended outcomes of whistleblowing in the public sector.

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