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.

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.

Settling Criminal Cases Without a Trial

1997 ◽  
Vol 31 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 223-244
Author(s):  
Bert Swart
Keyword(s):  
European Convention ◽  
Public Prosecutor ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Criminal Cases ◽  
The Public ◽  
Criminal Sanctions ◽  
Criminal Charge ◽  
A Charge ◽  
Almost All

According to Article 13 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal in the determination of any criminal charge against him. The essence of both provisions could be rephrased by saying that criminal sanctions may only be imposed on a person by an independent and impartial tribunal and only if that person has been able to defend himself against a charge during a hearing that satisfies all requirements of a fair trial.Realities, of course, are rather different. In almost all national systems of justice there is an increasing tendency to develop procedures that allow for imposing sanctions without the necessity of a criminal trial. Their main purpose is usually to relieve the system of a burden of cases with which it cannot really cope. Basically, there are two strategies to reduce the workload of courts and public prosecutors. The first is to invite the suspect to waive his right to trial in exchange for certain favours. This usually occurs in the form of an agreement between the public prosecutor and the suspect, while quite often the cooperation of the court that would have tried the case is also required. The second solution is to grant sanctioning powers to administrative bodies and to allow individual persons an appeal against their decisions to an independent and impartial tribunal.

On the Parole Board

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederic G. Reamer
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Rhode Island ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Criminal Cases ◽  
The Public ◽  
Parole Board ◽  
Realistic Appraisal

Few people experience life inside of prison. Even fewer are charged with the responsibility of deciding whether inmates should be released. In his twenty-four years on the Rhode Island Parole Board, Frederic G. Reamer has judged the fates of thousands of inmates, deciding which are ready to reenter society and which are not. It is a complicated choice that balances injury to victims and their families against an offender’s capacity for transformation. With rich retellings of criminal cases, On the Parole Board is a singular book that explains from an insider’s perspective how a variety of factors play into the board’s decisions: the ongoing effect on victims and their loved ones, the life histories of offenders, the circumstances of the crimes, and the powerful and often extraordinary displays of forgiveness and remorse. Pulling back the curtain on a process largely shrouded in mystery, Reamer lays bare the thorny philosophical issues of crime and justice and their staggering consequences for inmates, victims, and the public at large. Reamer and his colleagues often hope, despite encountering behavior at its worst, that criminals who have made horrible mistakes have the capacity for redemption. Yet that hope must be tempered with a realistic appraisal of risk, given the potentially grave consequences of releasing an inmate who may commit a future crime. This book will appeal to anyone interested in the complexities of the criminal justice system, the need to correct its injustices, and the challenges of those who must decide when justice has been served.

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.

scholarly journals The Legal Impact of Plea Bargain in Settlement of High Profile Financial Criminal Cases in Nigeria

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 161
Author(s):  
Paul Atagamen Aidonojie ◽  
Anne Oyenmwosa Odojor ◽  
Patience Omohoste Agbale
Keyword(s):  
Legal System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Ruling Class ◽  
Criminal Cases ◽  
Plea Bargain ◽  
The Public ◽  
High Profile ◽  
Legal Effect ◽  
Survey Questionnaires

Plea bargain has been globally accepted as a useful criminal prosecutorial tool in accelerating the prosecution of minor criminal cases. However, it has been observed that the introduction of a plea bargain into the Nigerian criminal justice system tends to aid the ruling class in looting from the public treasury and escaping justice. Given these legal anomalies, the study used online survey questionnaires sent to four hundred and five respondents (randomly selected) residing in Nigeria in ascertaining the Nigerian citizens view on the legal effect of using a plea bargain in resolving high profile financial crime cases. Descriptive and analytical statistics were used to analyse the respondents’ responses. The study, therefore, found that though plea bargain is a useful criminal prosecutorial tool in resolving minor criminal cases, it is unsuitable in resolving high profile criminal financial cases as it tends to involve a hide and seek game which makes a mockery of the Nigeria Legal System. It is, therefore, concluded and recommended that the concept of a plea bargain in Nigeria legal system should not be used in resolving high-profile criminal financial cases, as it tends to give leverage to those looting public funds.

scholarly journals The Role of Judges in Guaranteeing Legal Certainty and Justice: An Analysis to the Application of Judicial Independence Principle in Criminal Cases in Indonesia

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 201-209
Author(s):  
Vivi Ariyanti
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Judicial Independence ◽  
The State ◽  
Legal Certainty ◽  
Criminal Cases ◽  
The Public ◽  
Independence Principle

The duty and obligation of a state based on law is to provide protection for the public from all possible crimes, so that the state has a role in conducting prevention and repression of crime, and this cannot be separated from the implementation of criminal law by the state, as a tool to protect the public. The authority of the state to provide criminal sanctions is then delegated to law enforcement officers working in a system known as the Criminal Justice System. The criminal justice system itself is strongly influenced by the community environment and the field of human life. Therefore, the criminal justice system will always experience interaction, interconnection, and interdependence with its environment and sub-systems of the criminal justice system itself. One of the supporting sub-systems that have a very important role in implementing the criminal justice system is the court, which contains judges who are authorized by law to adjudicate. Judges in their capacity as authorities in the legal field have freedom as a form of independence in carrying out their duties. This independence does not mean that judges are freed from all obligations and responsibilities, but the independence of judges has the meaning of their existence as bearers of moral responsibility for upholding justice. This paper discusses the role of judges in ensuring legal certainty and justice in society, especially in handling criminal cases. This paper uses normative and philosophical analysis to the application of judicial independence principle in adjudicating criminal cases in the Indonesian criminal justice system.

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.

Tabloid Justice: Criminal Justice in an Age of Media Frenzy By Richard L. Fox and Robert W. Van Sickel. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2001. 225p. $55.00 cloth, $22.00 paper.

2002 ◽  
Vol 96 (3) ◽  
pp. 636-637
Author(s):  
William C. Green
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Social Class ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Criminal Cases ◽  
The Public ◽  
High Profile ◽  
National Enquirer

We live in a tabloid era defined by The National Enquirer and The Star. How has it affected popular confidence in the criminal justice system? Richard L. Fox and Robert W. Van Sickel's study examines the mass media's tabloid news coverage of high-profile criminal cases that involve violence and race, gender, and social class issues. This news coverage, they argue, sacrifices the media's educational function, misinforms the public about the operation of the criminal justice system, and contributes to the public's lack of faith in criminal justice.

scholarly journals Justification for Implementing Victim-Offender Mediation in the Criminal Justice System of Ghana.

2020 ◽  
pp. 118-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enoch Amoah
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Dispute Resolution ◽  
Alternative Dispute Resolution ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Criminal Cases ◽  
The Public ◽  
Criminal Justice Systems ◽  
Criminal Matters

This study seeks to ascertain whether there are justifications for implementing Victim Offender Mediation (VOM) – a key Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) process capable of solving the shortcomings of the Criminal Justice Systems of Ghana. Doctrinal approach to legal research was deployed using qualitative research method in perusing and analysing provisions of the Courts Act 1993 Alternative Dispute Resolution Act 2010, Children’s Act 1998, Domestic Violence Act 2007 and Juvenile Justice Act 2003. It also analysed literature on the use of ADR processes in criminal matters. It was found that the selected enactments with the exception of Domestic Violence Act 2007 provided justifications for implementing VOM in Ghana. The research also reveals that only offences in the categories of misdemeanor which are not aggravated in degree and offences regarded as minor offences can be referred for settlement by VOM. Further, criminal cases involving matters of public interest and those affecting the environment could not be resolved using VOM. It is recommended that the courts should take advantage of these findings to implement the use of VOM in resolving criminal cases in Ghana; the Judicial service should liaise with experts in VOM to provide training to judges and other stakeholders to enhance their capacities to implement VOM models in Ghana; and there should be sensitization of the public on the mechanics of VOM in resolving criminal cases so that a court will not appear to its audience as compromising the criminal justice system when it refers criminal cases for settlement by VOM.

11. Access to justice

2020 ◽  
pp. 417-441
Author(s):  
Steve Wilson ◽  
Helen Rutherford ◽  
Tony Storey ◽  
Natalie Wortley ◽  
Birju Kotecha
Keyword(s):  
Public Funding ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Legal Aid ◽  
Criminal Cases ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
Legal Representation ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Legal Advice ◽  
Pro Bono

This chapter addresses the issues and arguments surrounding access to justice. The chapter considers the recent reforms 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 on a pro bono basis, including Citizens Advice Bureaux and law centres, are also included. in the discussion about the availability of legal advice. The chapter aims to stimulate thought about the idea of access to justice and whether such access is fair and open to all in England and Wales.

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