The Law Society of Scotland is to conduct research on access to legal advice and services in Scotland after a decade of austerity. Legal aid is a key component of access to justice. It is also at the heart of the gender equality imperative and the overarching goal of the 2030 Agenda: leaving no one behind. Access to legal aid means access to justice for the poor, marginalized and disadvantaged. It is free and protects those who do not have the means to defend their rights in the criminal justice system: inmates, inmates or inmates; persons suspected, accused or accused of a criminal offence; and victims and witnesses. Legal aid helps these people navigate the justice system, which can be complicated and overwhelming. It has an impact on families and communities by helping to reduce the length of time suspects are detained, the number of wrongful convictions, the frequency of bribery and mismanagement of the justice system, as well as recidivism and victimization rates. In times of crisis, access to legal aid is crucial to protect people`s rights, facilitate their access to basic services and ensure that States` implementation of emergency measures complies with international human rights standards. The Law Society launched two online surveys asking lawyers and other members of the legal community to share their views. Both the ADR survey and the pro bono inquiry will run from February 28 to April 8.
Jim Stephenson said: “The number of civil cases brought before the courts in Scotland has fallen significantly over the last decade. ADR is increasingly encouraged, for example in the context of the procedure for simple procedural cases. We would like to know if ADR is increasing, how service delivery varies across the country, and how ADR providers and users are thinking about how services can be promoted and improved. We are also interested in finding out how technology could be used to support these services. The important role of legal aid was recognized in the United Nations Principles and Guidelines on Access to Legal Aid in Criminal Justice Systems adopted by the General Assembly in 2012, which required Member States to establish accessible, effective, sustainable and credible legal aid systems with specialized unit services. especially children and women. Legal aid includes “legal advice, assistance and representation … provided free of charge to those who lack sufficient resources or where the interests of the judiciary so require”, as well as legal training, access to legal information and services provided in alternative dispute resolution and restorative justice procedures. The UN Principles and Guidelines also recognize the contribution of providers such as paralegals, law students and civil society organizations. The Law Society`s Access to Justice Committee is running two projects exploring the use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) procedures, which allow people to resolve disputes without going to court, and assessing the level of pro bono legal advice in Scotland. Jim Stephenson, Chair of the Law Society of Scotland`s Access to Justice Committee, said: “A decade of austerity has significantly changed the landscape of access to justice in Scotland.
At this stage, we believe it is important to take stock, review and, where possible, make recommendations to improve and promote best practices in these two key areas. When his rights are so dignified through legal activism, even a prisoner cannot blame the administration of justice or cry shame about it. But despite these value judgments, we see the sad state of those arrested. Legal aid in India is much more on paper than it actually is. While free legal aid has been seen as a burden by legal practitioners, high-quality legal aid has remained a myth in India due to the litigation-based mindset of legal service providers. One of the references for quality legal aid is the possibility of offering litigants the choice between several exemption systems. This should necessarily include different ADR mechanisms to resolve disputes amicably between the parties. In India, however, the parties to the dispute would ultimately find themselves in legal proceedings as soon as they turned to lawyers.
Several factors explain why legal aid does not respond to the need to promote alternative dispute resolution. First, the developments discussed above, both legislative and judicial, have focused on the aspect of free legal aid and very little emphasis is placed on quality legal aid. As the focus is also on criminal matters, the importance of alternative dispute resolution in the legal aid process is somewhat diminishing. In addition, legal service providers have been trained in judicial disputes and not in alternative dispute resolution mechanisms. Therefore, their only means of resolving disputes is through legal disputes. “When it comes to pro bono work, we know that many lawyers and law students volunteer their expertise and time to help people with legal problems. This is often done through formal programs such as corporate CSR work or university law clinics, and often on its own initiative. We are interested in learning more about the services available in Scotland, how they can be recognised and promoted. Volunteering can never replace an effective legal aid system, although we would like to explore how people who advise can be supported in their volunteer work. Access to justice plays an important role in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, whose goal 16.3 of goal 16 is to promote the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensure equal access to justice for all.
This is particularly important when a person`s fundamental rights to life and liberty are threatened. The first principle of the 1990 Basic Principles on the Role of Counsel states that “everyone has the right to be assisted by a lawyer of his or her choice to protect, assert and defend his or her rights at all stages of criminal proceedings”. The Basic Principles also give government and the legal profession the responsibility to ensure that everyone has access to legal aid, regardless of their means or background, in order to protect the right to equality before the law. The lack of government funding, the inability of the lower judiciary to take corrective action, the indifferent attitude of law societies, and the lack of professional accountability for providing poor quality legal aid are the few other factors standing in the way of the common man`s dream of effective legal aid. In terms of funding, Indian state governments have allocated a tiny fraction of their budgets to legal aid, spending more on workshops and conferences of limited scope. Legal aid professionals are paid very little and, therefore, a highly qualified person cannot be expected to be exclusively part of legal aid. In most parts of India, the lower judiciary and the chamber have not taken steps to provide the necessary legal assistance to those in need, particularly with regard to the amicable settlement of disputes through alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.
