Last Chance for Justice

2019 ◽  
pp. 308-338
Author(s):  
Carolyn Hoyle ◽  
Mai Sato
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Forensic Science ◽  
Referral Rate ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Legal Aid ◽  
Criminal Cases ◽  
Real Possibility ◽  
The Real ◽  
Court Of Appeal ◽  
Science Evidence

This concluding chapter summarises the book's key findings and examines the main cultural and structural influences on the Criminal Cases Review Commission's decision-making. It begins with a discussion of three significant changes to the Commission's ‘surround’: reductions in legal aid for defendants and appellants; growing evidence of non-disclosure of potentially exculpatory evidence by police and prosecution; and the declining reliability of forensic science evidence. The chapter then considers the critics' claim that the Commission's referral rate is too low and how this raises concerns about access to justice, along with developments in the surround in relation to the ‘field’ and the ‘frame’. It also analyses variability in the Commission's response to cases and its relationship with various ‘stakeholders’. Finally, it looks at the notion that the Commission is too ‘deferential’ to the Court of Appeal when it comes to making decisions about which cases meet the ‘real possibility test’.

A Commission under Scrutiny

2019 ◽  
pp. 12-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn Hoyle ◽  
Mai Sato
Keyword(s):  
Wrongful Conviction ◽  
Criminal Cases ◽  
Real Possibility ◽  
The Real ◽  
Court Of Appeal ◽  
Proper Balance

This chapter examines the nature of criticisms about the Criminal Cases Review Commission, especially with regards to its application of the ‘real possibility test’ in investigating and referring potential wrongful conviction cases. It begins with a discussion of the Commission's structural failings as perceived by critics external to the institution, with particular emphasis on the argument that focusing on safety and the real possibility test prevents the Commission from referring cases to the Court of Appeal in the interests of ‘justice’, or ‘innocence’. Critics also claim that the Commission does not strike a proper balance between thoroughness and efficiency in the allocation of its finite resources; that it is inconsistent in its response; and that it sometimes does not communicate adequately with applicants and their legal representatives. The chapter concludes with an overview of the book's key research goals as well as the methods employed to realise them.

Making Sense of Decision-making

2019 ◽  
pp. 28-46
Author(s):  
Carolyn Hoyle ◽  
Mai Sato
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Legal Analysis ◽  
Criminal Cases ◽  
Real Possibility ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Legal Decision Making ◽  
Legal Literature ◽  
Key Features ◽  
New Evidence ◽  
Court Of Appeal

This chapter examines decision-making and the use of discretion within the Criminal Cases Review Commission using socio-legal analysis, with particular emphasis on the application of the real possibility test at screening, investigation, and referral back to the Court of Appeal. It also describes the theoretical framework used in the review of the Commission's discretion and decision-making. The chapter begins with a discussion of how the Commission decides whether there is new evidence and whether that evidence gives rise to a real possibility that the Court of Appeal will find the conviction to be unsafe. It then considers the legal and socio-legal literature on discretion, highlighting the key features of discretionary behaviour and how it is facilitated and constrained in practice. Finally, it explores three concepts proposed by Keith Hawkins in the context of legal decision-making: ‘surround’, ‘field’, and ‘frame’.

Marketisation and competition in criminal legal aid: implications for access to justice

2020 ◽  
pp. 133-150
Author(s):  
Tom Smith ◽  
Ed Johnston
Keyword(s):  
Access To Justice ◽  
Legal Aid ◽  
Criminal Cases ◽  
Legal Representation ◽  
Police Station ◽  
Competitive Tendering ◽  
Financial Pressure ◽  
Liberal Reform ◽  
The Right

The right to legal representation is a fundamental right, and arrangements for funding this are crucial to ensuring access to justice for those accused of criminal offences. Criminal legal aid has long been regarded as an entitlement for most citizens, particularly the most economically vulnerable. However, criminal legal aid has been cast in a different light in recent years, viewed not through the lens of welfarism but subjected to neo-liberal values such as cost neutrality, marketisation and managerialism. This was particularly evident in the ‘Transforming Legal Aid’ consultation of 2013, which resurrected the idea of competitive tendering for provision of criminal legal aid services. Although not pursued in full, subsequent changes – including cuts of 8.75% to fees for legal aid lawyers – appear to have significantly affected the scope of criminal legal aid. The number of providers of such services has consistently declined over the past decade and firms have frequently reported significant financial pressure. Arguably, these reforms – justified in neo-liberal terms – have affected access to justice and by extension the quality of justice offered by the Criminal Justice System, CJS. This chapter will examine the market-driven reform of criminal legal aid in recent years, and consider two apparent examples of impact: evidence of an increasing number of litigants-in-person in criminal cases; and the outsourcing of police station work to independent ‘agents’. The chapter will also question some of the apparent contradictions in neo-liberal reform of criminal legal aid, such as the deliberate policy of reducing the size of the provider market; and the ‘false economies’ created by the pursuit of efficiency and economy: goals which are underpinned and enforced by the Criminal Procedure Rules.

11. Access to justice

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve Wilson ◽  
Helen Rutherford ◽  
Tony Storey ◽  
Natalie Wortley
Keyword(s):  
Public Funding ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Legal Aid ◽  
Criminal Cases ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
Legal Representation ◽  
Legal Advice

This chapter addresses the issues and arguments surrounding access to justice. The chapter considers the recent changes and proposed changes to legal aid provision. There is an outline of the basic principles relating to public funding in both civil and criminal cases. Different methods of funding civil legal representation are discussed including CFAs and DBAs. Organisations involved in giving legal advice include Citizens’ Advice Bureaux and law centres are also included in the discussion about the availability of legal advice.

scholarly journals Courts and Access to Justice

2000 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 163 ◽  
Author(s):  
I L M Richardson
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Fine Tuning ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Court System ◽  
Legal Aid ◽  
The Public ◽  
Societal Values ◽  
Basic Functions ◽  
Court Of Appeal ◽  
Over Time

(This article was presented as a lecture at the Australasian Law Teachers' Association Conference held at Victoria University of Wellington, 6 July 1999.) Ensuring access to justice is one of the most basic functions of the state. The author discusses the role and functioning of the Court of Appeal, the operation of the legal aid system in New Zealand, and the extent to which the operations of the court system should be open to the public. It is argued that any system of justice should reflect the values of its society. The author concludes that what is thought desirable in these three areas will change over time, and that there will always be a need for fine-tuning in light of societal values.

scholarly journals Legal aid for person with disabilities in access to justice

2018 ◽  
Vol 52 ◽  
pp. 00040
Author(s):  
Rosmalinda ◽  
Arif
Keyword(s):  
Palm Oil ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Crime Scene ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Legal Aid ◽  
Criminal Cases ◽  
Lack Of Information ◽  
Depth Interview ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
The Government

Some criminal cases took place in palm oil plantation and agriculture area as the crime scene. Unfortunately, the cases involved children and women. This paper discusses on the research results of a study on the development of legal aid model for marginal people including people with disabilities. There were two research questions namely the situation of PwD and how they access the justice. The data were collected through literature review and field study. There were 52 persons who participated in in-depth interview and 3 Focus Group Discussion. All informants are PwD and people who supported PwD. This study figured out a case of sexual harassment which located in palm oil plantation. The victim is a girl with hearing impairment. The result of the study shows that PwD could not access the justice due to the distance and lack of information concerning legal aid provider. Furthermore, data of PwD is not available properly either at the government office or Community Social Organization (CSO)

Forensic Science Evidence, Adversarial Criminal Proceedings, and Mainstream Scientific “Advice”

2019 ◽  
pp. 760-785
Author(s):  
Gary Edmond
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Forensic Science ◽  
Expert Opinion ◽  
Forensic Sciences ◽  
Scientific Advice ◽  
Legal Decision ◽  
Criminal Proceedings ◽  
Legal Decision Making ◽  
Science Evidence

This chapter examines adversarial responses to forensic science evidence, with emphasis on the implicit orderliness and taken-for-granted evidentiary value of some historical (that is, pre-DNA) forensic sciences as well as the legal assumptions and practices that developed symbiotically alongside them. It first provides an overview of the main rules and procedures regulating the admission and use of expert opinion evidence in adversarial criminal proceedings before discussing the findings and recommendations of various scientific reviews. It also considers legal engagement with forensic science evidence and related scientific advice, and concludes by asking whether there are meaningful standards regulating the admission of forensic science evidence and noting the implications of this for the efficacy of traditional adversarial trial mechanisms, the fairness of proceedings, and the rectitude of legal decision-making.

11. Funding Access to Justice

2021 ◽  
pp. 371-414
Author(s):  
Alisdair A. Gillespie ◽  
Siobhan Weare
Keyword(s):  
Civil Litigation ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Legal Aid ◽  
Criminal Courts ◽  
Real Possibility ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Alternative Sources ◽  
Party Funding

This chapter examines how litigation is funded. It considers the growth, and eventual decline, in legal aid, and how alternative sources of funding have begun to be used. The chapter considers both criminal and civil litigation. It notes how there is an increase in defendants-in-person before the criminal courts because of restrictions in legal aid. It questions whether this is appropriate, particularly where the loss of liberty is a real possibility. The chapter also considers how civil litigation is now funded. This includes how ‘no win, no fee’ arrangements were at first encouraged, but then subject to restrictions because it was felt the balance of risk vs. gain was inappropriate. The chapter charts the growth of before and after-the-event insurance, and the increase in third-party funding where the litigation is for large sums of money.

Managing Uncertainty in Forensic and Expert Evidence Cases

2019 ◽  
pp. 115-140
Author(s):  
Carolyn Hoyle ◽  
Mai Sato
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Forensic Science ◽  
Expert Testimony ◽  
Expert Evidence ◽  
Criminal Cases ◽  
Forensic Evidence ◽  
Turn On ◽  
Decision Frames

This chapter examines issues arising from cases that turn on forensic and expert evidence, focusing on how the Criminal Cases Review Commission investigates such applications and makes its decisions. Drawing on a sample of sixty-one cases involving forty-two applicants, the chapter shows how the Commission makes decisions in cases that ‘turn on’ forensic science and expert testimony. It also considers the influence of developments in the ‘surround’ of the Commission and how the surround affects the Commission's decision field — the broad setting within which decision-making at the Commission takes place. Finally, it analyses the role of decision frames in the Commission's decision-making on forensic and expert evidence cases, noting that such frames are characterised by uncertainty and even anxiety. Concerns about the interpretation and presentation of forensic evidence at trial are discussed, along with the legal and narrative frames of decision-making in forensic and expert evidence cases.

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