Sentences with phrase «unrepresented defendants»

The Guardian reported research by Transform Justice indicating that legal aid cuts have led to a surge in the number of unrepresented defendants in criminal trials, and Sir Edward Garnier QC acknowledged that «the publicly funded bar is impoverished».

There are concerns about access to justice: Penelope Gibbs, director of Transform Justice said in The Guardian: «The move to online and virtual justice threatens to significantly increase the number of unrepresented defendants, to further discriminate against vulnerable defendants, to inhibit the relationship between defence lawyers and their clients, and to make justice less open.»

Clerks began answering inquiries from unrepresented defendants.

Put simply, these trial courts are faced with lengthy dockets with the pressure of trying to complete them in a sitting, often litigated by unrepresented defendants with little experience or knowledge of the substantive and procedural law, some quite upset about the perceived injustice in their case, in a crowded courtroom with perhaps less than ideal staffing or facilities.

The Ministry of Justice refused to release its research on unrepresented defendants in criminal courts.

You don't need to be a lawyer to see that, with so many cracks built into the bleak justice of the future, a sharp increase of miscarriages of justice, costly appeals, unrepresented defendants in our courts will become commonplace.

It is like being thrown into an unfamiliar battleground, where the unrepresented defendant is unequally armed and trained vis à vis the prosecution, and where even the otherwise best criminal defense lawyer is weakened unless s / he prepares his or her defendant client well for court and works well as a team with the defendant.

Last summer, Superior Court Justice Eva Frank reached out to PBLO for amicus counsel when faced with an unrepresented defendant in a complex civil sexual assault case.

An order, under s 19 (1) of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985, for costs incurred as a result of an unnecessary or improper act or omission by or on behalf of a prosecutor may be made to compensate an unrepresented defendant for his own loss of time in preparing his case and attending court.

In fact, Superior Court Justice Eva Frank reached out to PBLO about perhaps getting amicus counsel recently when faced with an unrepresented defendant in a complex civil sexual assault case.

The transcript also offers a picture into Judge Gertner's efforts to help the unrepresented defendants obtain counsel to represent them:

One anomaly of Utah law is that debt collection plaintiffs can file their complaints electronically, but unrepresented defendants must file their answers by mail.

Consider the following example, where an unrepresented defendant was being sentenced for possessing cannabis:

An order, under s 19 (1) of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985, (POA 1985) for costs incurred as a result of an unnecessary or improper act or omission by or on behalf of a prosecutor can not be made to compensate an unrepresented defendant for his own loss of time in preparing his case and attending court (the reasoning in R v Bedlington Magistrates» Court ex p Wilkinson [1999] 164 JP 156, construing of POA 1985, s 16 applies equally to s 19).

In particular, we are concerned that no qualified lawyer may be involved with a case tried in the magistrates» court in which an unrepresented defendant is facing an imprisonable offence, and where it will be quite possible that a lay bench would preside, advised by an unqualified legal adviser, and with a DCW prosecuting.