Our criminal justice system is now criminal in itself How can it be right that 6 out of 10 parents have no legal representation in cases involving their children!? How can any of these reforms be fair when they lock whole swathes of the population out of the courts unless they are prepared (and able) to represent themselves!? Sickening and terribly worrying.rebeccariots2 wrote:Legal aid cuts denied mother a fair hearing, says senior judge
‘If legal aid is being refused to people such as this, I am satisfied that injustices will occur,’ say family court judge Louise Hallam
http://www.theguardian.com/law/2014/nov ... ise-hallam
A senior family court judge has condemned the injustice of the newly pared-back legal aid system after an illiterate mother of four, with poor sight and hearing, was forced to represent herself in a court hearing over the custody of her children.
In an unusual step, Judge Louise Hallam warned that the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was not being given the opportunity of a fair trial and that she believed others around the country were also being let down.
Hallam told the hearing: “If legal aid is being refused to people such as this, I am satisfied that injustices will occur … Mothers in her situation should have proper and full access to the court with the assistance of legal advice.”...
Have you read the Frederick Wilmot-Smith piece from the LRB that @HindleA linked to last night? http://www.lrb.co.uk/v36/n21/frederick- ... r-ideology As he said, it is long but well worth reading.
Seemingly, we are being steered into a future based on the lyric of that popular hymn:
The rich man in his castle,
The poor man at his gate,
And ordered their estate...