'Magistrate Courts: Which Reforms are needed?'

'Magistrate Courts: Which Reforms are Needed'

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Ref

Reference (following Cite Them Right):

Anonymous2004, Dec 16. UK Government: Legal aid reforms in the magistrates' courts. M2 Presswire, 1-1.

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The courts will administer the means test under a Service Level Agreement with the LSC. Defendants will be able to appeal to the Justices' Clerk and then to the magistrates if they feel that there has been a mistake in determining their eligibility for legal aid according to the Interests of Justice test. There will also be an internal review of means testing decisions available to defendants via an LSC Regional Director.

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This resource discusses about a series of measures to reform legal aid and to provide better value for money for the taxpayer were published today. The Criminal Defence Service (CDS) Bill introduces a new means test for criminal cases in the magistrates' courts. The Legal Services Commission (LSC) will take over responsibility for administering legal aid payments to ensure transparency and consistency.

The article proposes that defendants in the magistrates' courts seeking legal aid will in future undertake a means test as well as satisfying the terms of the Interests of Justice requirements. These will not change. They apply to those who are charged with an imprisonable offence, who may lose their livelihood if convicted, or who cannot follow proceedings in the court. Both tests must be satisfied for legal aid to be granted.

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Ref

Reference (following Cite Them Right):

Anleu, S, & Mack, K 2007, 'Magistrates, Magistrates Courts, and Social Change', Law & Policy, 29, 2, pp. 183-209,

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Relatively little attention has been paid to lower courts' capacity to bring about social change, despite the fact that most citizens who come into contact with the judicial system will have their case considered (and most likely only considered) by these courts. Often these citizens experience a range of problems that are social

in origin, including precarious employment, welfare dependence, ?nancial hardship, and various health problems, including mental health and drug dependency. Magistrates courts must respond to social change and its human fallout and, in so doing, can contribute to progressive social change in a local, personal, and

incremental way.

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As judicial of?cers, magistrates have considerable control over their relations with court users; they have control of a limited array of resources and decisions, and can transform those relations to some degree. The capacity to exert some agency and bring about social change is implied by the existence of the court's

institutional structure, though for various reasons not all ...