Changes to Legal Aid Allocation for Lawyers in South Australia
Monday 30 September 2013 @ 9.03 a.m. | Judiciary, Legal Profession & Procedure
From 1 January 2014, lawyers handling legal aid-funded cases in South Australia would be subject to a professional standards code which determines their eligibility for work based on their years at the bar table.
The Proposed Changes to Legal Aid
The scheme, proposed by the Legal Services Commission, is currently the subject of consultation with the Law Society, the Bar Association and the Attorney-General’s Department.
Lawyers have warned it will exclude the next generation of legal minds from learning and honing skills needed to defend those charged with the worst crimes.
But commission director Gabrielle Canny said the system will guarantee the best possible representation for disadvantaged members of the public,
“In the legal profession, like all professions, there must be quality standards set that are transparent so that all clients are ensured they are getting quality representation.”
Under the present system in South Australia, persons seeking representation approach either the Commission or private counsel and ask that legal aid be granted. Aid is only granted in criminal cases when there is a high risk of going to jail, and in family law matters which involve children. If a case is deemed serious enough, sufficient funding is allocated for a client to hire Queen’s Counsel or Senior Counsel to represent them. All lawyers with more than two years’ professional experience are eligible to file grant applications on behalf of clients, or seek to act in legal aid-funded cases.
The Funding Debate in Other States
This simply feeds the debate already happening in other States like Victoria over cuts to legal aid and the effects it will have on representation for disadvantaged members of society including criminals.
Victorian Victims' Rights lobbyists have advocated removing the right to legal aid for criminals both before and after sentencing. But, as argued by Jane Lee in the Age:
In our justice system, people accused of a crime are entitled to a legal defence and, if convicted, to an appeal. Legal Aid and the courts are guided by these principles, not the popularity of the people who come before them...a blanket rule to remove legal help for all convicted murderers is simplistic. No matter how depraved the crime, being guided by grief rather than reason risks further injustice.
Whether the changes proposed in South Australia will affect the right to legal representation in a similar way to the funding cuts in Victoria is yet to be seen, but the debate remains the same - the right to legal representation for those accused of a crime and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.
As Law Society President John White said in South Australia,
“It is important that any criteria for granting legal aid be fair, transparent, and efficient, and comply with the fundamental right of a defendant in a criminal court to have access to legal representation...The society hopes all stakeholders can agree on a proposal that protects the rights of legal aid applicants, addresses the constraints under which the commission operates, and also ensures that lawyers continue to be able to provide independent and fearless legal advice to defendants.”
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