Adal is being prosecuted for an offence in the criminal courts and sued in the civil courts Explain to Adal where and how he can he can get advice and representation
Adal is being prosecuted for an offence in the criminal courts and sued in the civil courts
Explain to Adal where and how he can he can get advice and representation.
As Adal is being sued in the civil court, he will be able to receive advice and representation form The Community Legal Service (CLS). It has a fixed amount of money to provide civil legal aid; there are guidelines, which have been set up to see who qualifies for funding with legal aid. Therefore, if Adal qualifies for any funding he will have to take the Means and Merits test. First of all, for the merits test, Adal will only get funding if his case is believed to be in the public's interest, if there is spare money and if there is a realistic chance of winning. Therefore, Adal will have to prove that he does have a realistic chance of winning his case and that it is in the public's interest. Next, Adal will have to comply with the Means test; the state will see how much of the legal aid Adal can actually afford to pay himself. The service provides areas where Adal will be able to go, to receive free legal aid connected to his civil case.
Firstly, he will be able to go to the Citizens Advise Bureau (CAB) free confidential information and advice on any money, legal or consumer problems. Trained advisors will help Adal by making phone calls, writing letters, negotiate with creditors and take cases to tribunals and court. The CAB also offers advisors whom specialise in one specific area to give more, in depth advice.
Secondly, for advice Adal can go to his nearest law centre. Law centres in the UK provide advice and representation for the most disadvantaged members of society, although members of public are able to ...
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Firstly, he will be able to go to the Citizens Advise Bureau (CAB) free confidential information and advice on any money, legal or consumer problems. Trained advisors will help Adal by making phone calls, writing letters, negotiate with creditors and take cases to tribunals and court. The CAB also offers advisors whom specialise in one specific area to give more, in depth advice.
Secondly, for advice Adal can go to his nearest law centre. Law centres in the UK provide advice and representation for the most disadvantaged members of society, although members of public are able to attend the centres. The law centres specifically provide information on Social Welfare law on topics such as; public law, debt, employment. However not all Law centres provide the same information and are not based all over the country, only in big cities Birmingham and London.
Thirdly, many websites are all set up to give clients' advice. The main website for the Community Legal Service is the official site and the website offers many ways of getting legal aid and representation. The website provides phone numbers for professionals that are willing to give people advice about any queries they have about their cases. In addition, the websites give links to other sources that offer free advice.
There are also Local Authority Services, which provide help that Adal could go. As well as libraries and community centres which provide additional information for Adal.
Lastly, when it comes to the Community Legal Service, there are Law firms, which offer lawyers to advise clients about their responsibilities. The lawyers also take the role of representing their client in any civil or criminal cases and other legal circumstances in which legal representation is needed. There are also smaller firms that specialise and focus on specific areas e.g. tax law, criminal defence etc. while Adal is in the civil courts he is able to use a duty solicitor, that has been provided for free. This solicitor will advise and represent Adal throughout his case in the court. However, before he actually gets to court, he is also given the choice to have a free duty solicitor from the police station he has been taken.
Many professionals believe that it is harder to get legal aid through civil cases; this is because more fixed fees have been introduced. Therefore, making it more expensive for people to get legal aid during their civil cases.
When it comes to Adal being sued in the criminal courts his legal aid will be decided through The Criminal Defence Service (CDS). This service does not have a fixed amount of money for all cases but does have a demand-led basis as it has no budget. If Adal wants to qualify for his legal aid being paid for, he must pass the same merits test as the Community Legal Service. In addition he will not have to comply with the needs of the means test, as the test is not done anymore as they realised it was too hard to apply.
If Adal wants a legal representative for his prosecution in the criminal courts, the Legal Service Commission must decide whether he qualifies for his representation to be paid for by the state.
Firstly, Adal can get legal advice or representation form any of the same ways, as he will for his civil case. For example, websites, law centres, law firms, citizen's advice bureau etc.
Next, the duty solicitors in the police stations and magistrates courts also remain (independent solicitors, not employed by the police.) If Adal would like a contracted solicitor, he is able to ask the police station or court for one instead of a duty solicitor. The police will then contact the contracted solicitor's office; all of the contracted solicitors are qualified and have been awarded a CDS contract.
Thirdly, there is the Public Defender Service, this service provides lawyers whose duty is to advise and represent defendants that cannot pay for legal representation themselves.
Fourthly, there are firms of lawyers all over England and Wales that have all been contracted by the Criminal Defence Service. All of these solicitors often undergo checks to see how they are working therefore to see if they are working to a high quality standard. Adal will be able to seek advice and representation from these sources.
Sophie Scott
