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A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to practise there as such. For example, in England and Wales a solicitor is admitted to practise under the provisions of the Solicitors Act 1974. With some exceptions, practising solicitors must possess a practising certificate. There are many more solicitors than barristers in England; they undertake the general aspects of giving legal advice and conducting legal proceedings.
Dame Vera Baird, is a British barrister and politician who has held roles as a government minister, police and crime commissioner, and Victims' Commissioner for England and Wales.
Legal aid is the provision of assistance to people who are unable to afford legal representation and access to the court system. Legal aid is regarded as central in providing access to justice by ensuring equality before the law, the right to counsel and the right to a fair trial. This article describes the development of legal aid and its principles, primarily as known in Europe, the Commonwealth of Nations and in the United States.
Witness protection is security provided to a threatened person providing testimonial evidence to the justice system, including defendants and other clients, before, during, and after a trial, usually by police. While a witness may only require protection until the conclusion of a trial, some witnesses are provided with a new identity and may live out the rest of their lives under government protection.
The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) is a non-departmental public body in England set up to promote the welfare of children and families involved in family court. It was formed in April 2001 under the provisions of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 and is accountable to Parliament through the Ministry of Justice. Cafcass is independent of the courts, social services, education, health authorities and all similar agencies.
A public defender is a lawyer appointed to represent people who otherwise cannot reasonably afford to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in a trial. Several countries provide people with public defenders, including the UK, Hungary and Singapore, and some states of Australia. Brazil is the only country in which an office of government-paid lawyers with the specific purpose of providing full legal assistance and representation to the needy free of charge is established in the constitution. The Sixth Amendment to the US Constitution, as interpreted by the Supreme Court, requires the US government to provide legal counsel to indigent defendants in criminal cases. Public defenders in the United States are lawyers employed by or under contract with county, state or federal governments.
Citizens Advice is an independent organisation specialising in confidential information and advice to assist people with legal, debt, consumer, housing and other problems in the United Kingdom.
The Legal Services Commission (LSC) was an executive non-departmental public body of the Ministry of Justice which was responsible for the operational administration of legal aid in England and Wales between 2000 and 2013.
Victim Support is an independent charity in England and Wales that provides specialist practical and emotional support to victims and witnesses of crime.
A law centre is a specific type of not-for-profit legal practice in the United Kingdom which provides legal aid to people otherwise not able to access commercial legal support. Law centres are independent and directly accountable to the communities they serve, usually through committees of local community members. The Law Centres Network (LCN) represents law centres in all levels of government.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is a ministerial department of His Majesty's Government headed by the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor. Its stated priorities are to reduce re-offending and protect the public, to provide access to justice, to increase confidence in the justice system, and uphold people's civil liberties. The Secretary of State is the minister responsible to Parliament for the judiciary, the court system and prisons and probation in England and Wales, with some additional UK-wide responsibilities e.g. the UK Supreme Court and judicial appointments by the Crown. The department is also responsible for areas of constitutional policy not transferred in 2010 to the Deputy Prime Minister, human rights law and information rights law across the UK.
Mishcon de Reya LLP is a British law firm with offices in London and Singapore. Founded in 1937, it employs more than 1200 people with over 600 lawyers. It is regarded as forming part of the "Silver Circle" of leading UK law firms.
Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) is a non-governmental organisation with offices in Belgrade, Serbia, and Pristina, Kosovo. It was founded in 1992 by Nataša Kandić to document human rights violations across the former Yugoslavia in armed conflicts in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and, later, Kosovo.
Victims' rights are legal rights afforded to victims of crime. These may include the right to restitution, the right to a victims' advocate, the right not to be excluded from criminal justice proceedings, and the right to speak at criminal justice proceedings.
In the United States, a courthouse facility dog is a professionally trained facility dog that has graduated from an accredited assistance dog organization that is a member of Assistance Dogs International. Such dogs assist crime victims, witnesses and others during the investigation and prosecution of crimes, as well as during other legal proceedings. Courthouse facility dogs also provide assistance to Drug Court and Mental Health Court participants during their recovery from drugs, alcohol, mental illness and posttraumatic stress disorder.
If a defendant in England and Wales is identified as being vulnerable, special measures can be taken to allow a non-registered intermediary to assist them during their trial. Around two thirds of all offenders have communication difficulties and there is a high demand for non-registered intermediaries in the criminal courts. The first practical use of a defendant intermediary in a major trial is believed to be a murder case before a high court judge. If an intermediary is to be used the court should then attempt to find an appropriate intermediary. HMCTS staff have been issued with guidance which includes the list of several professional organisations that may be able to assist in providing an intermediary. The two largest providers of intermediaries for defendants in the criminal and family courts are Communicourt and Triangle
The British Post Office scandal is a miscarriage of justice involving the wrongful civil and criminal prosecutions of an unknown or unpublished number of sub-postmasters (SPMs) for theft, false accounting and/or fraud. The cases constitute the most widespread miscarriage of justice in British legal history, spanning a period of over twenty years; it remains unresolved.
Alexander John Gervase Chalk, is a British politician serving as Minister of State at the Ministry of Defence since October 2022. He has been the Member of Parliament for Cheltenham since 2015. Chalk previously served as the Solicitor General for England and Wales, Minister of State for Prisons and Probation and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice. In October 2022, Chalk was appointed Minister of State for Defence Procurement at the Ministry of Defence.
Dame Parmjit Kaur "Bobbie" Cheema-Grubb DBE, styled The Hon. Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb, is a judge of the King's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales. She is the first Asian woman to serve as a High Court judge in the United Kingdom.
On 14 March 2022, the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) in England and Wales voted to undertake industrial action protesting against stagnant fees with 94% of criminal barristers in favour. The industrial action consisted of refusal to accept returns—substitution of a new barrister, often at the last minute, when another of them is unavailable to make a trial date—in Advocates' Graduated Fee Scheme (AGFS) -funded cases in the Crown Court. The action began on 11 April 2022. Almost 2,500 people are participating in the action. The CBA did not consider the initial action a strike because its members are under no obligation to accept returns, which it calls "a gesture of goodwill to prop up the criminal justice system". Two months later, in June 2022, barristers began an open-ended strike every other week based on a CBA ballot in late May. In October 2022, barristers voted to end the strike following a deal with then-Secretary of State for Justice, Brandon Lewis.
References
- 1 2 "About the Citizens Advice Witness Service". Citizens Advice. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
- ↑ "The right support can help witnesses confront the challenge of appearing in court | Citizens Advice blog". Blogs.citizensadvice.org.uk. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
- ↑ "Going to court as a victim or witness" . Retrieved 13 August 2018.
- ↑ "Victim Support history". victimsupport.org.uk. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
- ↑ "Citizens Advice succeeds Victim Support running £12m-per-year court witness service". Civilsociety.co.uk. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
- ↑ "MoJ admits no extra funding to support witnesses in court | News | Law Society Gazette". www.lawgazette.co.uk. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015.
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