Imperfect Duty: Lawyers’ Obligation to Foster Access to Justice

2008 ◽  
pp. 107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alice Woolley
Keyword(s):  
Legal System ◽  
Policy Response ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Legal Services ◽  
Imperfect Duty ◽  
Special Obligation ◽  
Legal Market ◽  
Integral Component

Access to justice is an integral component of the legal system. However, the question of upon whose shoulders the obligation of ensuring this access should fall has been widely debated. In particular, do lawyers, as part ofthe legalprofession, have a special obligation to foster access to justice? In this article, the author explores the legitimacy of various arguments with respect to whether lawyers should carry this obligation to a greater extent than other members of society. The author begins by critiquing the traditional arguments related to imposing such an obligation on lawyers — for instance, the refined monopoly arguments. She then goes on to critically consider an alternative argument: that imperfections in the marketfor legal services justify the existence of a special obligation for lawyers. An examination of the limitations of this justification follows. Overall, the author concludes that while the arguments arising from imperfections in the legal market offer the best justification for seeing lawyers have a special obligation to ensure access tojustice, the claims from the argument are modest ones, and any policy response in furtherance of such an obligation should be similarly modest.

ADVANCING ACCESS TO JUSTICE THROUGH GENERIC SOLUTIONS: THE RISK OF PERPETUATING EXCLUSION

2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Patricia Hughes
Keyword(s):  
Access To Justice ◽  
Legal Services ◽  
Low Literacy ◽  
Remote Areas

Recent reports about access to justice have focused on issues of affordability, with little reference to the differences of equity-seeking groups. They have tended to recommend “generic” solutions intended to help people represent themselves better and to access limited legal services that fail to consider characteristics that exclude people from using them effectively. The author argues that if factors such as low literacy or living in remote areas are not taken into account, generic solutions run the risk of perpetuating exclusion rather than increasing access to justice.       Des rapports sur l’accès à la justice qui ont été publiés récemment s’intéressent principalement à la question de la capacité de payer et s’attardent peu aux différences au sein des groupes en quête d’équité. Ils tendent à recommander des solutions « génériques » pour aider les justiciables à mieux se représenter eux‑mêmes et à jouir d’un accès à des services juridiques limités qui ne tiennent pas compte des facteurs qui empêchent les gens d’utiliser ces services efficacement. L’auteure plaide que si des facteurs tels qu’une faible littératie ou le fait de résider dans une collectivité éloignée ne sont pas pris en compte, les solutions génériques risquent de perpétuer l’exclusion plutôt que d’améliorer l’accès à la justice.      

‘Not bullet proof’: The complex choice not to seek a civil protection order for intimate partner violence

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-195
Author(s):  
Jill Theresa Messing ◽  
Meredith E Bagwell-Gray ◽  
Allison Ward-Lasher ◽  
Alesha Durfee
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
The United States ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
System Resource ◽  
Survey Responses ◽  
Protection Order

Protection orders (POs) are one legal system resource available to survivors of intimate partner violence. Many survivors choose not to obtain a PO, yet prior research has not examined the perspectives of these survivors. This study examined the open-ended survey responses ( n = 308) regarding the choice not to obtain a PO by survivors residing in emergency shelters in the United States. Content analysis indicated that many survivors made deliberate decisions to not seek safety through this venue. Survivors indicated that a PO may increase their partner’s violence, identified substantial barriers, evaluated a PO as unnecessary, preferred alternative strategies, were dealing with complex partner dynamics, and chose to protect their loved ones by not seeking a PO. Women with marginalized identities, in particular, indicated that there are multiple costs to seeking interventions within the legal system. Structural changes are needed within the legal system to facilitate access to justice for survivors.

Health justice partnerships: a promising model for increasing access to justice in health services

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (6) ◽  
pp. 636 ◽  
Author(s):  
Virginia Lewis ◽  
Lauren Adamson ◽  
Faith Hawthorne
Keyword(s):  
Health Services ◽  
Specific Area ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Legal Services ◽  
Fully Integrated ◽  
Seek Health Care ◽  
Know How ◽  
Health Partnership ◽  
Health Justice

Many people experience legal issues that affect their health, but do not seek legal help, particularly if they are disadvantaged in some way. This may be because they do not recognise they have a legal problem, they are unwilling or unable to address it, or they do not know how to go about dealing with it. Most people seek health care at some point, so linking health and legal services may help promote access to justice. There have been ongoing efforts in Australia to link health and law services, such as through co-locating health and legal services or through running legal ‘clinics’ in health services, but these have not always reached the intended clients. Fully integrated health justice partnerships are a model where the law/health partnership is collaborative at all levels of the organisation. This perspective piece argues that the model is particularly suitable for health services that have clients with needs in a specific area of law, and should be carefully targeted to where it is most needed. Factors that contribute to successful implementation of the model are described.

scholarly journals What Are We Waiting For? It’s Time to Regulate Paralegals in Canada

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 149-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Trabucco
Keyword(s):  
Public Interest ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
The State ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Legal Services ◽  
The Public ◽  
Statutory Duty

Law societies in Canada have long been granted the privilege of self-regulation by the state – a privilege that comes with a statutory duty to govern in the public interest. There exists an access to justice crisis in this country. More must be done to address unmet legal needs. There is nothing new in this, but law societies across Canada are reluctant to implement at least one ready solution. Ontario introduced paralegal regulation over ten years ago with the promise that it would increase access to justice. Evidence suggests that it has done so. Yet no other Canadian jurisdiction is prepared to regulate paralegals as independent providers of legal services. Law societies’ continued resistance to the regulation of paralegals is contrary to the public interest. This paper argues that to alleviate the access to justice crisis, it is time to regulate paralegals.

Role of Advocates in Administration of Justice

LAW REVIEW ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (01) ◽  
Author(s):  
S. S. Upadhyay
Keyword(s):  
Legal System ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Special Relationship ◽  
The Public ◽  
Moral Standards ◽  
Administration Of Justice ◽  
Relationship Of

Lawyers play an important part in the administration of justice. The Profession itself requires the safeguarding of high moral standards. As an officer of the Court the overriding duty of a lawyer is to the Court, the standards of his profession and to the public. Since the main job of a lawyer is to assist the Court in dispensing justice, the members of the Bar cannot behave with doubtful scruples or strive to thrive on litigation. This paper deals in Legal framework of duty and liability of advocate supported with Judicial Pronouncement. The main emphais on special relationship of bar bench and agreed and persons of the society for protection of their human rightrs. Legal community and advocates are inseparable and important part of robust legal system and they not only aid in seeking access to justice but also promote justice. Judges cannot perform their task of dispensing justice effectively without the able support of advocates. In that sense, advocates play an important role in the administration of justice.

Unpacking the Dilemma of Alternative Dispute Resolution and Access to Justice by Women in the Ghanaian Context

2021 ◽  
pp. 171-189
Author(s):  
John Kwame Boateng ◽  
Ernest Darkwa
Keyword(s):  
Dispute Resolution ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Cost Reduction ◽  
Alternative Dispute Resolution ◽  
Cultural Norms ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Cultural Dynamics ◽  
Time Saving ◽  
Reduction Time ◽  
Remote Areas

The chapter explores the dilemma of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and access to justice for women in Ghana. It argues that introduction and use of ADR has contributed to improving access to justice with regards to reducing delays in formal court procedures, cost reduction, time saving, opening spaces for less-resourced individuals and groups, particularly women, to have access to justice. Above all, ADR does bring access to justice systems close to remote areas, serving the needs of disadvantaged individuals including women and others who are most vulnerable. However, the weaknesses and challenges in the formal legal system, coupled with the historical and cultural dynamics of the Ghanaian society, which is patriarchal in nature, have prevented mostly women from reaping the maximum benefits of ADR. Revisiting the challenges of the justice system and the historical and cultural norms of Ghana would help increase and enhance women's access to justice through ADR.

1. Aims, themes, and structure

2021 ◽  
pp. 2-6
Author(s):  
Martin Partington
Keyword(s):  
Legal System ◽  
Institutional Framework ◽  
Legal Services ◽  
Social Functions ◽  
The Social

This chapter sets out the basic aims, themes, and structure of this book which are to provide an introductory account of the English legal system, to note how it has developed in recent years, and to consider how it may develop in future. Part II raises fundamental issues about the social functions of law and the legitimacy of law; and considers the institutional framework within which law is made. Part III looks at the different contexts in which law is developed and practised. Part IV looks at the provision and funding of legal services. Finally, Part V offers reflexions on a system in flux.

11. The transformation of the English legal system: pressures and challenges

2019 ◽  
pp. 308-318
Author(s):  
Martin Partington
Keyword(s):  
Legal System ◽  
Legal Education ◽  
Legal Rights ◽  
The Political ◽  
Access To Justice

This final chapter reflects further on the theme, pervasive throughout the book of the transformation of the legal system over the last 20 years. It reflects on the pressures that have underpinned the transformation agenda. It examines the political, financial, and competitive pressures that have led to the need for reform. It contemplates the further changes that are now in progress. The chapter highlights the challenges that the transformation programme must face, stressing in particular the need to ensure much improved access to justice. It considers briefly the importance of public legal education in helping people understand their legal rights and obligations and the need for a properly funded programme of public legal education.

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