As the Law Society recently reported, legal aid in New Zealand is ‘on life support’. Urgent action is required to avoid the justice gap becoming a chasm.
Access to justice has been diminished by swinging budget cuts in England and Wales.
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The failure to regulate litigation funders is becoming more problematic. This is because more funders, particularly from overseas, are entering the Australian market.
A protest outside the Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre.
Knox O (Wasi Daniju)/flickr.com
Merging the back-end operations of Australia’s federal courts could have significant implications for the way in which resources are allocated to meet the needs of family courts and their clients.
Differences in personal resources and capabilities mean that the most vulnerable Australians find the legal system inaccessible.
AAP/April Fonti
The demand for government-funded legal services is large and growing. Simply “not cutting” these services does the community a grave disservice.
The Productivity Commission rightly identified widespread concerns that Australia’s civil justice system is too slow, too expensive and too adversarial.
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The Productivity Commission raised a few eyebrows when it called for an additional A$200 million for legal assistance services to disadvantaged Australians, who are “more susceptible to, and less equipped…
New laws need to strike a balance between justice and prompting an influx of litigation.
AAP
In the early to mid-2000s governments throughout Australia introduced reforms restricting rights to claim for negligence. The tort of negligence and other statutory causes of action, including the prohibition…
The halls of the Royal Courts of Justice shouldn’t have to throng with students.
Nick Garrod
Law students are doing more pro bono work than ever before. In 2014, 70% of all UK law schools now provide free legal services to individuals, groups and organisations. According to the latest LawWorks…
Lawyers like George Newhouse deserve praise, not abuse, when they go to court to ensure people are protected by the rule of law.
AAP/Paul Miller
Australia’s courts serve us well, acting independently in their application of the law. However, that doesn’t protect them from attacks for performing their legal and constitutional duties. Similarly…
Victims of crime may feel offenders get off too lightly, but being represented at sentencing isn’t necessarily the solution.
AAP/Dan Peled
The South Australian Commissioner for Victims’ Rights, Michael O’Connell, recently called for victims of crime to have their own lawyers at the time that criminal defendants are sentenced. O’Connell’s…
We should continue to agitate for fairer, cheaper and more just legal systems, after a Productivity Commission draft report noted the difficulties for many in accessing justice.
AAP/Dave Hunt
Half of all Australians will experience a legal problem this year. Most won’t get legal assistance or come into contact with our courts or other legal institutions. In part, this is because Australia’s…