Application of Legal Aid - Essay Example

Legal Aid Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Name Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Course Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Lecture Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 2nd October, 2012. Introduction In a democratic society, all citizens are entitled to legal justice that involves equal rights and duties. In order for a country to have justice, there has to be legal assistance from the government for all people without considering any impeding factor. This makes legal aid to be a key concept in delivery if justice in any country. With the help of international bodies and treaties, the Australian government has come up with measures of how they can provide legal aid to both family cases and legal cases. The essay is going to look at the benefits and costs that accrue due to giving legal aid in both family and criminal cases. It will also consider any strength and weakness that may be there due to the methods provided in provision of this aid. The essay will be supported by graphical representations and statistical data that will support any argument or statements given in the essay. To conclude on the information to be given, the essay will summarize on any findings and arguments put forward. Importance of legal aid Legal aid plays an important role in the Australian society whereby it is through this that all citizens in a country have benefits such as being given equal human rights which involves equal treatment in all occasions. By having legal aid, there is promotion of the rule of law and everyone is made aware of any rule and its consequences if broken. With legal aid there is increased confidence in accessing justice for all in the society which leads to fairness for all (Mullen 2008). It also becomes easier when it comes to accessing legal information concerning the justice system in the country and the overall aim o providing legal aid is to ensure that there are minimal costs in seeking justice in a community. With appropriate legal aid benefits such as lowering the costs associated to court matters are reduced and this is a sure way that there is efficiency in delivery of justice in courts. Services provided by legal aid Legal aid seeks to promote justice for both family and criminal cases across the commonwealth law areas. The main service provided by legal aid is through education and information in the community. Through this the community is able to know their rights in advance hence are responsible to abide by the laws of the land. Benefits of legal aid In the justice system, legal aid provides benefits which among many include easy resolving of legal issues. Through this, cases concerning family or criminal are known at an early stage hence early information and education is given in advance on the consequences of the legal issues. Through the use of legal aid, family cases can be resolved outside the court due to provision of mechanisms such as dispute resolution. In case of criminal cases, there is easy court procedure which leads to efficiency as legal aid has made it easy for duty lawyers to assist self sponsored victims with relevant information which they can use to defend themselves (Stonehouse 1995). There are several costs attached to either a family case or criminal case in order to reach the right kind of judgment. In an assumption on family cases set out by the Attorney general’s department’s portfolio Budget Statements 2007-2008, 72% of family cases consisted of serious cases that involved children .In this case there was the need for legal aid as the Australian commission only funds cases that are of substantial value in the society. Such a case cases will benefit from legal aid due to mediation agreements that will lead to increased efficiencies in securing for justice (Germov 1995). With the aid of legal services, costs that would be difficult to assign basing on the dollar value are made possible due to the assistance of the Australian government. Taking the example of family cases that experience violence, with the help of legal aid $103,559 will be avoided. In case a child aged from 1-18 years is under care of the grandparents, $35,195 to $585,035 amount will be funded by legal aid. $63400 will be saved if there is legal aid on cases that involve family home loss. The court will provide legal aid in situations of parental disagreement in families that have experienced violence or mental or physical harm and there is the risk that harm will be caused hence jurisdiction in the court on granting legal aid. Through legal aid, there are efficiency benefits to a larger extent that accrues due to the education provided and advice given on efficient pathways of the judicial system. Dollars are saved by families that are highly indebted there by promotes a permanent economic effect. Through revenue generated by such activities as social security, the state provides legal aid that fights for Earned income tax credits. Through legal aid, dollars circulate in the economy providing job opportunities and income for family households. In family cases, legal aid helps in appointment of independent children lawyers that experience difficulties in their living arrangements and help to provide families with complex issues to resolve them by offering financial support in such kind of families (Regan 1999). Legal aid is important in child safety as it is through this that family law priorities are granted. In criminal law, priorities of being granted legal aid to offenders facing criminal offences under the commonwealth criminal law are those that have a child they look after or a person who has been convicted and the crime committed is likely to imprison the victim (Feelhaver & Deichert, 2005, pp. 45). The commission on legal aid can in this case refund for the costs associated to the criminal matter. In criminal law, expensive criminal law cases are funded by the commonwealth Attorney-General’s department. For parties that are not legal parents to the children, legal aid is given to such individuals for legal care and development of the particular child. The commission while funding legal aid to such individuals has to consider the child’s safety and welfare before everything else according to the Family Law Act 1975. By provision of legal aid to Australian families the government has to deal with a number of costs including the actual legal costs and other associated costs. The costs include liability for cases that are in progress; at the onset of cases money is set aside to pay solicitors (Price Water House Coopers 2009, pp. 56). This follows that a government that is providing legal aid to its citizens has to maintain a healthy bank balance. Other costs involved with legal aid include the cost associated with storing the information of consumers of legal aid. Legal aid administration will also involve maintaining a workforce who can be able to deal with the demand for legal aid. Factors such as the number of applications for legal aid rejected increase the cost of administering legal aid. For every appeal for legal aid accepted many others are rejected but not before the legal aid services incur processing costs (Smith, Finkelstein & O’Malley 2011, pp. 67). Others costs include buildings and offices that will house the administrative functions of the legal assistance fund. Whether the government rents or builds its own office a cost has to be incurred. Furthermore, even if the fund owns its own buildings it still has to maintain it. Finally, the body in charge of administering legal aid also has to incur cost associated with spreading information about its service. Information costs may come from advertising, releasing publications, posting and maintaining an official website. Therefore, the Attorney General’s office must take into consideration the costs the office will incur in providing legal aid to family and criminal law cases. Methods of quantifying legal aid and their strengths and weaknesses This section will deal with the various methods that are used in the quantifying legal aid in relation to the family law and criminal law. It will also offer a discussion of the various strengths and weaknesses of each of the methods and later give the most suitable method to be applied and some supporting evidence. There exist various methods that are used to measure legal aids and each of them is closely associated with some strengths and weaknesses. Legal aid contributors, governments and all the other related entities have employed various approaches in the identification as well as in the measuring of legal aid in relation to the family law and the criminal law (Bevan, Davis & Pearce 1999, pp. 23). A more concise and deeper understanding in relation to the legal aid is seen as a major aspect in legal aid and also in the effectual service liberation mechanisms. Research that has been carried out in this area has contributed greatly empirical knowledge and at the same time it has increased the understanding of legal aid in most individuals. There exist three major approaches that are used in measuring and also in understanding legal aid in relation to the family laws and the criminal laws. From the perspective of the individual requiring the assistance and it is commonly termed as demand. The other approach is usually looked at from the perspective of the provision of the legal services the approach is termed as supply and the last approach is related to the extraneous factors that tend to affect legal aid and the availability of the services to the intended people. There also exist other approaches that are applied in the quantification of legal aid. One of the approaches is related to the development of the predictive models of legal aid. Predictive modeling is termed as the processes through which a model is developed or is chosen so as to try to predict correct the outcome (Ontario Legal Aid Review 1997, pp. 67). Based on the fact that this approach is solely based on a model at times the results derived from it may be erroneous and may also not offer correct information. Thus foe accurate results to be derived the individual’s developing the model need. The benefit that is associated with this approach is that is offers a basis in which comparison can be done. Another commonly adopted method in quantifying the legal aid in relation to criminal law and family law is the needs assessments. In relation to this approach legal aid need to provided to the right individuals and also at the required time. The needs assessments are usually carried out by the various legal aid providers so as to ascertain that particular individuals can be offered the legal aid (Barrie 2005, pp. 45). The need assessment is also carried out in some particular areas in law such as in poverty law. The family law and the criminal law are commonly viewed as been the ones that compose a lot of legal aid that is been experience by a considerable number of the low income earners and family law in itself seem to take prevalence. The strength that is associated with this method is that since they are involved with the individuals who are in need of legal aid they will more often than not offer the required correct legal aid to the recipients of the legal aid. Thus the needs of the victim will be met in a more concise manner (Barrie 2005, pp. 45). One of the disadvantages of this method is that at time the information that is derived from the target population may be biased and it can also be erroneous. Thus it may not give clear indications of the legal aid that is needed. The other commonly adopted method of measuring legal aid is based on studies. This method involves a study of the specific legal aid need for a particular segment of individuals may be in terms of regions or in particular areas of the law (Ontario Legal Aid Review 1997, pp. 67). One of the major strength that is associated with this approach is that in most instances they tend to offer more accurate results as compared to the other methods that are used in the quantification of the legal aid that is offered in relation to the criminal laws and family laws. One of the major weaknesses that are associated with the method is that it tends to consume a lot of time. Thus in reality the method may be expensive to carry out and individuals may opt to use other simpler methods in quantifying the data related to legal aid in family law and criminal law. Based on the analysis of the various methods that are used in quantifying legal aid in family law and criminal law, it is evident that the most suitable method that can be applied and should be advocated for is the studies. This is based on the fact that they tend to involve the individuals who are directly affected by the legal aid and thus in most instances they will have first hand information as compared to the other methods that are been applied (McEown 2008, pp. 12). Another reason why this method seems to be the most preferred one is that it tend to give more accurate information about the issue under discussion thus when it is applied in measuring legal aid it will give correct and accurate information (Legal Aid Queensland 2011). This will eventually lead to offering of legal aid in the right format and to the right individuals thus ensuring there is a balance between the poor in the society and the rich in regard to legal presentations. Conclusion In conclusion legal aid seems to play an important role in a number of societies and Australia is inclusive. Through legal aid there is an increased level of confidence in accessing justice for all the individuals in the society this leading to fairness for all people living in the society? The legal aid there are benefits such as lower costs in relation to the various court matters thus there is efficiency in the delivery of the services and also in the delivery of justice in most courts. The benefits of legal aid in family law and criminal laws tend to more that the costs that are associated with it. Some of the benefits as discussed above range from easier resolution of cases, easy procedures which ultimately lead to efficiency of the decision been made. The various actors in the legal aid apply a number of approaches in the aim of quantifying the legal aid. The most commonly accepted approaches are the needs assessment and the studies. Another commonly accepted method is the modeling. Based on the various methods that are available the most preferred method can be the studies this is because of the strengths that the approach have in comparison to the other methods that are been used in quantifying the legal aid. This method is preferred since it gives more accurate information that assists a lot in making the right decision when it comes to issues related to family law and criminal law. References Barrie, D 2005, Poverty Law Needs Assessment and Gap/Overlap Analysis (Vancouver: Law Foundation of British Columbia, 2005), 2 October 2012, www.lawfoundationbc.org/files/PovertyLawNeedsAssessment_NOV05.pdf Bevan, G., Davis, G & Pearce, J 1999, “Piloting a quasi-market for family mediation amongst clients eligible for legal aid”, Civil Justice Quarterly 239 at 239. Feelhaver, R. & Deichert, J.A. 2005, The Economic Impact of Legal Aid of Nebraska, 2 October 2012, http://www.mbf.org/JAGWG4Nebraska2005EconomicStudy.pdf Germov, J 1995, 'Equality before the law: The limits of legal aid and the cost of social justice', Australian Journal of Social Issues, 30, 2, pp. 162-178 Legal Aid Queensland 2011, Financial overview, 2 October 2012, http://www.legalaid.qld.gov.au/publications/Reports/annual-report/annual-report-archives/annual-report-2010-11/Documents/LAQ-annual-report-2010-11-part-3.pdf McEown, C 2008, Civil Legal Needs Research (Vancouver: Law Foundation of British Columbia), 2 October 2012, www.lawfoundationbc.org/files/Civil%20Legal%20Needs%20Research%20FINAL.pdf Mullen, KF 2008, 'A Case Law Survey of the Personality Assessment Inventory: Examining Its Role in Civil and Criminal Trials', Journal of Personality Assessment, 90, 3, pp. 300-303. Ontario Legal Aid Review, 1997, A Blueprint for Publicly-Funded Legal Services (Toronto: Ministry of the Attorney General) (OLAR). 2 October 2012, www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/about/pubs/olar/toc.asp Price Water House Coopers 2009, Economic value of legal aid: Analysis in relation to Commonwealth funded matters with a focus on family law, 2 October 2012, http://www.legalaidact.org.au/pdf/economic_value_of_legalaid.pdf Regan, F 1999. The transformation of legal aid: comparative and historical studies. Oxford University Press. pp. 89–90 Smith, K., Finkelstein, B. & O’Malley, C. 2011, Economic Impacts of Legal Aid: Civil Justice for low-income People Ripple Effects That Benefit Every Segment of the Communities We Serve, 2 October 2012, http://www.greatprograms.org/mie_article/pdfs/Economic%20Impacts%20of%20Legal%20Aid_MIE%20Journal_Fall%202011.pdf. Stonehouse, B 1995, 'FAMILY LAW', Family Matters, 42, pp. 48-49 Appendix 1 Information on legal aid provided to family and criminal laws Read More