scholarly journals Between A Rock And A Hard Place: Access To The Justice System By Abused Refugee Women In Canada

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harmy E.J. Mendoza
Keyword(s):  
Justice System ◽  
Ecological Model ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Woman Abuse ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Refugee Women ◽  
Immigration Legislation ◽  
Canadian Immigration ◽  
Justice Systems ◽  
The Impact

This paper reviews literature about the Canadian justice system’s responses to woman abuse in general, with a particular focus on abused refugee women. Due to the complexity of the issue of woman abuse, this topic is examined using the following theoretical frameworks: Systemic Racism Theory, Cultural Racism Theory, Social Ecological model and the hindrance put forward by the Neo Liberalism ideology. A general overview of the Canadian immigration and refugee system is necessary, in order to systematically contextualize current and former policies and practices. The impact such policies have on refugee women when accessing the justice system can be severe, firstly due to current justice systems’ intersectionalities, secondly due to the lack of coordination between the criminal, family and immigration justice systems, and thirdly due to barriers in services. Furthermore, alarming recent changes in Canadian immigration legislation, will create further difficulties in access to justice by refugee women experiencing violence.

scholarly journals Between A Rock And A Hard Place: Access To The Justice System By Abused Refugee Women In Canada

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harmy E.J. Mendoza
Keyword(s):  
Justice System ◽  
Ecological Model ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Woman Abuse ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Refugee Women ◽  
Immigration Legislation ◽  
Canadian Immigration ◽  
Justice Systems ◽  
The Impact

This paper reviews literature about the Canadian justice system’s responses to woman abuse in general, with a particular focus on abused refugee women. Due to the complexity of the issue of woman abuse, this topic is examined using the following theoretical frameworks: Systemic Racism Theory, Cultural Racism Theory, Social Ecological model and the hindrance put forward by the Neo Liberalism ideology. A general overview of the Canadian immigration and refugee system is necessary, in order to systematically contextualize current and former policies and practices. The impact such policies have on refugee women when accessing the justice system can be severe, firstly due to current justice systems’ intersectionalities, secondly due to the lack of coordination between the criminal, family and immigration justice systems, and thirdly due to barriers in services. Furthermore, alarming recent changes in Canadian immigration legislation, will create further difficulties in access to justice by refugee women experiencing violence.

scholarly journals Women's Experiences of the Justice System

1997 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 649
Author(s):  
J Morris
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Women’S Experiences ◽  
Women's Experiences ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Law Commission

This article considers the impact of gender upon women's experiences of the New Zealand justice system, as lawyers and clients. As well as summarising study and survey material, it draws upon information provided to the Law Commission in the course of its project on Women's Acces to Justice: He Putanga mo nga Wahine ki te Tika. It concludes that women are still significantly disadvantaged by the justice system as a result of their gender and that there is an ongoing need for debate and consideration of these issues if women's access to justice is to be improved.

Trials in absentia and the cuts to criminal legal aid

2014 ◽  
Vol 78 (6) ◽  
pp. 486-510
Author(s):  
Paul Willey
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Legal Aid ◽  
Magna Carta ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Irreparable Damage

The swingeing cuts to criminal legal aid may do irreparable damage to the defence side of the equality of arms. Coupled with this, the case of R v Jones gives the judge discretion to try in the defendant’s absence without representation or being present as a litigant-in-person. It is arguable that the defendant’s right to be heard will be chipped away at until the defence side is left legally crippled. The enactment of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 is insular and neglects the defendant’s rights systemically. Without an adequate defence, squalid injustice will permeate and reverberate throughout the criminal justice system. Defendants cannot be corralled into court without the assistance of an advocate. The impact of the cuts falls on the litigant-in-person, thereby delimiting access to justice. Thus it disallows the opportunity to raise a proper defence. The sequela of the attack against the defence is a retreat back to the pre-1690s when defendants had very limited chances of being represented. Expense should not quell the right to be heard. Will the 2012 Act administer the coup de grace to the right to be heard or will Magna Carta be a heaven-sent ancient bulwark against this threat?

scholarly journals Barriers to Advocacy and Litigation in the Equality Courts for Persons with Disabilities

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 1963
Author(s):  
Willene Holness ◽  
Sarah Rule
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Cultural Norms ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Effective Implementation ◽  
Barriers To Access ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
Front Line Workers ◽  
The Impact

The effective implementation of the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act 4 of 2000 (PEPUDA) and the fulfilment of the South African state's obligations in terms of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) are dependent on two fundamental tools, advocacy and litigation. This article discusses the outcome of three cases in the Equality Courts and how these cases promote accessibility and access to justice for persons with disabilities. The authors then consider the impact of CREATE, a KwaZulu-Natal NGO's advocacy initiatives to promote the rights of persons with disabilities and the utilisation of the Equality Court to realise those rights. Participants of ten workshops in KwaZulu-Natal identified three barriers to access to justice in accessing the Equality Courts. Firstly, some Equality Courts are geographically (and financially) inaccessible. Secondly, the negative and insensitive attitudes of front-line workers impact on the ability of persons with disabilities to bring equality claims to and access the services of the Equality Court. These barriers constitute discrimination and flout articles 9 and 13 of the CRPD, which require the provision of support for persons with disabilities to access the justice system and the promotion of accessibility to the physical environment, and the provision to them of transportation, information and other services. Thirdly, cultural norms and fears impede access to courts and the agency of persons with disabilities to bring these claims, for example the requirement that traditional leaders provide "permission" to persons with disabilities to sue and a similar requirement of permission from the in-laws of women with disabilities. The article analyses the three barriers identified as inhibiting advocacy and litigation, and explains the implication of these barriers for the state's obligations in terms of articles 5, 8, 9, 12 and 13 of the CRPD. Recommendations are made on overcoming these barriers.

Introduction to the English Legal System

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Partington
Keyword(s):  
Legal System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Administrative System ◽  
System P ◽  
The Family ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Underlying Theme

Introduction to the English Legal System 2021–2022 has been fully updated to consider the latest developments in the English legal system. The underlying theme is change and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the underlying approach is holistic. Changes to the criminal system (Chapter 5), the administrative system (Chapter 6), the family justice system (Chapter 7), and the civil and commercial (Chapter 8) justice systems are all considered. Developments in the ways in which the legal profession is regulated are also discussed (Chapter 9). Ways of funding access to justice and controlling the cost of litigating are considered (Chapter 10), as are the purposes and sources of law (Chapters 2 and 3). Chapter 11 offers a final reflection on a system in flux.

scholarly journals Access to justice: An evaluation of the informal justice systems

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 228-244
Author(s):  
Jawad Ahmad ◽  
Georg Von Wangenheim
Keyword(s):  
Justice System ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Formal System ◽  
The State ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Positive Role ◽  
Informal System ◽  
Informal Justice ◽  
Justice Systems

The judicial system of any state can be divided as formal and informal, where the formal is under the state (official) and informal may or may not be under the domain of the state (informal justice system). Since both systems provide access to justice, however, the informal system is viewed as a threat to formal justice system. In this context we need to better understand the role played by informal justices system. We have focused on three fundamental issues, first to evaluate the role of the alternate and informal justice system to improve access to justice. Second, we listed weaknesses in informal justice systems that gives us an insight into our third goal of suggesting a framework for engaging informal justice system and improved on its shortcomings which can be helpful in supporting or reducing the burden on the formal system. Because of the absence of relevant literature, we resorted to empirical reports and case studies on other developing countries’ to present our arguments. We showed that informal system is playing a positive role in the society and there is a need to reform the system especially for its negative traits, e.g., human rights.

“We’ll Take the Tough Ones”

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 542-584
Author(s):  
Chrysanthi S. Leon ◽  
Corey S. Shdaimah
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Diversion Programs ◽  
Social Emotional ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Material Resources ◽  
Professional Goals ◽  
Criminal Justice Systems ◽  
Working Groups ◽  
Justice Systems

Expertise in multi-door criminal justice enables new forms of intervention within existing criminal justice systems. Expertise provides criminal justice personnel with the rationale and means to use their authority in order to carry out their existing roles for the purpose of doing (what they see as) good. In the first section, we outline theoretical frameworks derived from Gil Eyal’s sociology of expertise and Thomas Haskell’s evolution of moral sensibility. We use professional stakeholder interview data (N = 45) from our studies of three emerging and existing prostitution diversion programs as a case study to illustrate how criminal justice actors use what we define as primary, secondary, and tertiary expertise in multi-agency working groups. Actors make use of the tools at their disposal—in this case, the concept of trauma—to further personal and professional goals. As our case study demonstrates, professionals in specialized diversion programs recognize the inadequacy of criminal justice systems and believe that women who sell sex do so as a response to past harms and a lack of social, emotional, and material resources to cope with their trauma. Trauma shapes the kinds of interventions and expertise that are marshalled in response. Specialized programs create seepage that may reduce solely punitive responses and pave the way for better services. However empathetic, they do nothing to address the societal forces that are the root causes of harm and resultant trauma. This may have more to do with imagined capacities than with the objectively best approaches.

Racializing Mercy: Capital Punishment and Race in Twentieth-Century England and Wales

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 883-910
Author(s):  
Lizzie Seal ◽  
Alexa Neale
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Capital Punishment ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Racial Difference ◽  
Institutional Racism ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Men Of Color ◽  
Unequal Access ◽  
To Receive

Fifty-seven men of color were sentenced to death by the courts of England and Wales in the twentieth century and were less likely to receive mercy than white contemporaries. Though shocking, the data is perhaps unsurprising considering institutional racism and unequal access to justice widely highlighted by criminologists since the 1970s. We find discourses of racial difference were frequently mobilized tactically in nineteenth- and twentieth-century England and Wales: to support arguments for mercy and attempt to save prisoners from the gallows. Scholars have identified historically and culturally contingent narratives traditionally deployed to speak to notions of lesser culpability. These mercy narratives reveal contemporary ideals and attitudes to gender or class. This article is original in identifying strategic mercy narratives told in twentieth-century England and Wales that called on contemporary tropes about defendants' race. The narratives and cases we explore suggest contemporary racism in the criminal justice system of England and Wales has a longer history than previously acknowledged.

Beyond the austerity-driven hypothesis: Political economic theses on penality and the recent prison population decline

2021 ◽  
pp. 147737082110006
Author(s):  
José A. Brandariz
Keyword(s):  
Prison Population ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
The Past ◽  
Economic Forces ◽  
Global North ◽  
Economic Perspectives ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Spending Cuts

In what might be called the ‘austerity-driven hypothesis’, a consistent strand of literature has sought to explain the prison downsizing witnessed in many jurisdictions of the global north over the past decade by referring to the financial crisis of the late 2000s to early 2010s and its effects in terms of public spending cuts. Since this economic phase is essentially over, whereas the (moderate) decarceration turn is still ongoing, there are good reasons to challenge this hypothesis. This article delves into the non-economic forces that are fostering a prison population decline that, 10 years on, is becoming the new ‘penal normal’. The article thereby aims to spark a dialogue not only with the scholarship exploring the prison downsizing but also with certain theoretical frameworks that have played a key role in examining the punitive turn era. Additionally, the article contributes to the conversation on the need to reframe materialist readings on penality in a ‘non-reductionist’ fashion. By revisiting heterodox theses and scrutinizing the impact of recent penal changes on traditional materialist accounts, the article joins the collective endeavour seeking to update political economic perspectives on punishment and the penal field.

Building Evidence to Prevent Childhood Obesity: Lessons from the Portland Healthy Eating Active Living (Heal) Coalition

2009 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 21-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret Everett ◽  
Angie Mejia ◽  
Olivia Quiroz
Keyword(s):  
Health Promotion ◽  
Childhood Obesity ◽  
Healthy Eating ◽  
Ecological Model ◽  
Health Promotion Program ◽  
Grocery Stores ◽  
Active Living ◽  
Healthy Foods ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
The Impact

The Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) Coalition is a community-based health promotion program begun in 2006 in North Portland's Portsmouth neighborhood. The program seeks to promote community health and prevent childhood obesity by addressing barriers at local, regional and policy levels, with particular attention to the built environment. This article describes the findings of a program evaluation based on interviews with school staff and Latino parents. Important themes include the impact of the closure of a neighborhood school, access to grocery stores with affordable healthy foods, and concern about school meals. The comprehensive approach of programs like HEAL, which uses the socio-ecological model of health promotion, lends itself well to the participation of applied social scientists.

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