Lawyers’ wellbeing and professional legal education

Abstract

THIS PAPER examines the wellbeing and satisfaction levels of lawyers in the workplace. It argues that research suggesting a crisis in the legal profession in the United States is comparable with research on wellbeing and levels of satisfaction for lawyers in Australasia. Some reports in both jurisdictions are critical of conventional legal education and practical legal training programs, which do not encourage students to develop personal and interpersonal skills that can improve self‐awareness, communication skills and the capacity to manage stress and anxiety. Consequently, law students are allowed to assume that these “soft skills” are less important for lawyers compared with cognitive skills such as “knowing the law” and “thinking like a lawyer”.

The paper describes the preliminary results of research conducted with graduates of the School of Law at the University of Newcastle Australia. The results confirm existing research to show that clinical legal education programs that expose law students under supervision to clients with real cases may promote the development of interpersonal skills, which in turn may help them cope with stressors in legal practice, especially in the first few years post‐admission.     

Dialogue and the Inquisitorial Tradition: French Defence Lawyers in the Pre-Trial Criminal Process

Recent years have seen an intermittent debate amongst journalists, policy-makers and academics in adversarial jurisdictions about the nature and quality of the inquisitorial tradition in criminal process. Much of the political impact of the debate in Britain has stemmed from the view asserted periodically by certain high profile figures that some form of judicial supervision of police investigation – as practised for example in France – might be introduced in England and Wales.¹ Such views tend to find expression when events call into question not just particular rules but also the underlying structures and assumptions of our adversarial tradition of criminal process. Thus in 1991 the public revelation of serious miscarriages of justice led to the appointment of a Royal Commission on Criminal Justice in which the adversarial character of the pre-trial process seemed to be a key point of interrogation.² The police view, demonstrated in a number of key cases, was that once they were clear that a suspect was guilty they had no responsibility to pursue exculpatory lines of investigation. This, combined with the failure of defence lawyers to play the extensive, autonomous investigative role the adversarial system demanded of them, encouraged some to ask whether there might not be advantages in somehow ensuring that the resources and rights of the state were devoted to pursuing exonerating as well as incriminating evidence. Given the limited empirical evidence then available on the workings of judicial supervision in practice⁴ and the sometimes vehement dispute in France itself about the future of its pre-trial process and especially the juge d'instruction(examining magistrate), the proposals were perhaps not surprisingly rejected.⁵ But since the mid 1990s, British funders have begun to finance a number of empirical studies of French criminal justice.⁶ This paper reports the principal findings of a empirical study primarily funded by Britain's Economic and Social Research Council into the role of defence lawyers in France.⁷ Our focus and primary theme is the developing nature of their dialogue and exchanges with key state actors such as judges, prosecutors and the police on the one hand and with clients on the other. But in so doing we aim to cast light on the broader functioning of the pre-trial process in France.     

Discretion at the Pre-Trial Stage: A Comparative Study

This study aims to explore the discretion of the police and prosecutors during the pre-trial stage based on six systems of criminal justice: England and Wales, the United States, France, Germany, Japan, and South Korea. In criminal proceedings, discretion plays a significant role in supplementing as statutes cannot provide for every circumstance. In particular, at the pre-trial stage, public prosecutors can conclude their cases by exercising considerable discretion. Such discretion differs depending on the jurisdiction. The differences demonstrate distinctive prosecutorial roles. Based upon these findings, I propose that in general, the public prosecution service plays a filtering role. Unlike other jurisdictions, in Korea the prosecutors act as monopolists. However, justice cannot be achieved by the monopoly of one legal actor in the criminal proceedings.     

法律援助:中国刑事诉讼制度发展的瓶颈

我国的刑事法律援助在实践中华而不实,已引起社会的广泛关注乃至严厉的批评。国务院近期出台了《法律援助条例》,试图提高法律援助的质量,但经过分析发现,其制度夙愿也许并不能转化为现实。笔者以我国当代刑事诉讼制度对律师的依赖、法律援助对诉讼制度的影响为切入点,通过揭示刑事法律援助在整个司法改革中的重要地位,进而探讨完善法律援助的思路。同时还说明,如果整个刑事辩护执业环境不改变,即使法律援助本身完善到极致,保护被告人与被害人诉讼权利的目的也无法实现。     

刑事审前法官权力构成比较研究

刑事审前法官是世界上主要法治国家均重点建制的法官序列，它对刑事诉讼的公正与效率、保障被追诉人的权利、制约侦查与公诉权力、过滤不当追诉特别是维护司法中立具有重要意义。我国《刑事诉讼法》的再修改近在眼前，趋同全球范围内民主、文明的刑事诉讼趋势，建立我国的刑事审前法官制度十分必要。刑事审前法官的权力构成是刑事审前法官制度的核心，对其进行比较研究，可为我国建构科学、合理的刑事审前法官制度提供借鉴。     

In Search of Indicators of Detective Aptitude: Police Recruits’ Logical Reasoning and Ability to Generate Investigative Hypotheses

Previous psychological research on criminal investigation has not systematically addressed the role of deductive and inductive reasoning skills in decision-making in detectives. This study examined the relationship between these skills derived from a cognitive ability test used for police recruitment and test scores from an investigative reasoning skills task (Fahsing and Ask 2016). Newly recruited students at the Norwegian Police University College (N = 166) were presented with two semi-fictitious missing-person cases and were asked to report all relevant hypotheses and necessary investigative actions in each case. The quality of participants’ responses was gauged by comparison with a gold standard established by a panel of senior police experts. The scores from the deductive and inductive reasoning test were not related to participants’ performance on the investigative reasoning task. However, the presence or absence of an investigative “tipping-point” (i.e. arrest decision) in the two cases was systematically associated with participants’ ability to generate investigative hypotheses. Methodological limitations and implications for police recruitment and criminal investigative practice are discussed.     

中国刑事专家辅助人向专家证人的角色转变

中国的刑事专家辅助人具有既类似于律师又类似于鉴定人、证人的多重属性;围绕专家辅助人意见的性质,也形成了质证方式说、鉴定意见说、证人证言说等多种观点。角色定位上的混乱,不仅造成了独具特色的鉴定人与专家辅助人的双轨制,而且常常使专家辅助人意见的法庭采信陷入困境。从最高人民法院有关专家辅助人的新近规定看,专家辅助人的角色呈现出向专家证人转变的趋势。这种转变的核心要求,一是实现鉴定人和专家辅助人的诉讼地位平等,专家辅助人意见和鉴定意见在专家证言意义上的证据效力平等;二是使专家辅助人回归专家证人本色,将强加给专家辅助人的不合理的质证职责交还给律师、检察官;三是提高律师、检察官熟练运用交叉询问规则、对科学证据进行质证的能力,充分发挥法官的科学证据“守门人”作用,以适应事实认定科学化的需要。     

Teaching method: A basis for discussion

Skilled professionals such as lawyers are imperative for any society. Their training is even more critical, as it shapes their eventual role in transforming society. They play an important role since the law influences literally all aspects of our lives. My thesis here is that the “market” for lawyers in sub-Saharan Africa is dictated by the stage of societal development. Thus their training must be focused on the present and projected needs of the particular society. So, what role do academics play in realising this long-term goal? Academics must wear many hats as thinkers and scholars, teachers and mentors. They must influence philosophical paradigms of teaching for local relevance. They must deconstruct the “market” to decipher its meaning – are they training professionals for local service or for emigration? Thus, examining the place of the university academic in the training process, this paper investigates the situation, and makes policy-level remedial proposals.     

The Way in Which Fee Reductions Influence Legal Aid Criminal Defence Lawyer Work: Insights from a Qualitative Study

This article examines how fee reductions influence criminal defence lawyers’ work. Data from 29 qualitative interviews with English defence solicitors and barristers are analysed in order to understand the way in which cuts to fees paid by government for criminal legal aid work can operate to influence criminal defence lawyers’ working practices. I use game theory and Bourdieu's concepts of habitus and field to build a theoretical construct illustrating the invidious position current financial conditions place criminal legal aid lawyers in. I argue that these conditions reward and encourage perceived poor practices and values to thrive at the expense of other concerns – such as the conviction of the guilty, acquittal of the innocent, fair treatment of both victims and defendants, and value for the taxpayer. Ultimately, I argue that criminal legal aid lawyers are set up to fail by the current financial conditions within which they must work.     

The Prosecution Role where Courts Decide Cases

This article explores the role played by prosecutors during the court stage of criminal proceedings. It complements Peter et al.’s chapter on negotiated case settlements in showing how the power to decide cases is divided between judges and prosecutors when cases are taken to court. Providing information as to, e.g. what influence prosecutors in the 11 study countries have on what evidence is brought to court in “normal” and accelerated court proceedings, this chapter explores the balance of responsibilities in court rooms across Europe.     

Fair and Expeditious Pre-trial Proceedings: The Future of International Criminal Trials

In recent times it has been argued that international criminalproceedings are too costly, too long and no longer politicallyor financially viable. This article proposes several ways inwhich pre-trial proceedings in international criminal trialsmay be fairly expedited. The author argues that more judicialinvolvement in the pre-trial phase could assist in reducingthe length and ineffectiveness of international criminal trials.     

论我国审前羁押的司法救济

我国现行刑事诉讼法没有确立审前羁押的司法救济程序,被羁押者不能援用司法救济方式质疑审前羁押的合法性,导致司法实践中审前羁押率居高不下和超期羁押问题较为严重。解决这一问题的根本出路就在于构建我国审前羁押的司法救济途径,将人身保护令制度引入我国刑事诉讼法,赋予被羁押者对羁押的合法性提出质疑的权利,让中立的司法机关对羁押的根据进行司法审查,从而将审前羁押纳入司法控制的范畴,利用司法权来保障被羁押者免受非法或者无根据的羁押。     

Incentives, criminal defence lawyers and plea bargaining

Plea bargaining has become a central feature of criminal procedure in Anglo-Saxon jurisdictions. This paper explores an area seldom discussed in the economic literature on plea bargaining: the influence of the defence lawyer's fee contract on the terms of the bargain. In particular, it uses data from one jurisdiction of the impact on case trajectories of changes in publicly funded defence lawyers’ contracts to test the proposition that the nature of the lawyer's contract influences how cases are managed. An event study methodology on a pooled time-series cross-section data set of case trajectories before and after the change in the nature of the contract is used to examine whether the new payment regime significantly changed the trajectories of cases through the summary criminal justice system. Overall the results seem to suggest that the behaviour of defence lawyers may be influenced by financial incentives. This implies that the terms of plea bargains reached between prosecution and defence lawyers may be affected by the defence lawyer's remuneration contract. Consequently, the authors conclude that the role of defence lawyers has been under-researched in the literature on the economics of plea bargaining.     

Challenges for teaching interaction skills for law students

Abstract

Are lawyers witty courtroom heroes or professionals working with and for people? Is law only universal judgements and afterthoughts or could it also be preventive and proactive individual planning and dialogue? The traditional legal education could be seen to have been based on the first assumptions. The course “Interaction skills for lawyers”, in the Faculty of Law at the University of Helsinki (Finland), evolves instead from the latter assumptions. In this article we relate our starting points in planning the course and evaluate our challenges and experiences in developing it.     

律师刑事豁免权研究

律师在刑事诉讼中担任辩护人、诉讼代理人 ,为实现司法公正 ,保障人权作出重要贡献 ,同时也承担了巨大的风险。律师刑事豁免权是律师在刑事诉讼过程中维护委托人合法权益和降低律师执业风险的有力保障     

论侦查权配置的内在原理

刑事侦查权的配置应当围绕检察官为中心而进行.作为侦查权的法定主体,检察官具有控制警察活动的合法性,负有防止警察国家重现的重要使命.我国目前一定程度上存在着警察权恣意、失范,侦查程序缺乏监督、制约的情况,在这样的背景下,强化检察机关的权限和地位,将其塑造成为审前程序的主导者和警察权力的控制者,就成为必然的路径选择.     

侦查初期律师帮助权的欧洲实践及其借鉴——以欧洲人权法院“伯兹诉比利时”案为中心

在审前阶段特别是侦查初期,被追诉人获得切实有效的律师帮助是公正审判的基本特征,而限制律师帮助则属于例外情形。伯兹诉比利时案判决反映了人权法院对待法定限制律师帮助权所秉持的审查立场,即无论是否具有迫不得已的理由限制律师帮助权,均应采取整体平衡的审查方法。只不过缺乏迫不得已的理由,人权法院应在考虑相关平衡因素的基础上严格审查诉讼程序的整体公正性。对律师帮助权的法定限制并不能解除政府基于例外性、临时性、个案评估的审查责任。立足我国法律实践,反思我国与人权法院之间的差距,人权法院的欧洲实践对完善我国侦查初期律师帮助权具有借鉴意义。     

Responses to Salduz: Procedural Tradition,Change and the Need for Effective Defence

This article examines the responses of national courts to the ECtHR's decision in Salduz v Turkey that suspects be provided with access to a lawyer before they are first interrogated by the police. It argues that harmonious application of human rights standards in criminal proceedings should build upon common values underpinning the procedural traditions of member states. ECtHR success in gaining acceptance for the principle of access to a lawyer during police interrogation, anchoring it in the privilege against incrimination, is contrasted with resistance towards giving the defence any active role during criminal investigations. It is argued that this resistance can be overcome by an appeal to safeguards that have long dominated the trial process. As the investigation phase increasingly determines the outcome of criminal proceedings, standards of fairness traditionally reserved for the trial process should be applied also to this phase in order to provide suspects with an effective defence.     

Pressing for Sentence? An Examination of the New Zealand Crown Prosecutor’s Role in Sentencing

Prosecutors are among the most powerful actors in any criminal justice system. Their exercise of discretion, however, has not been subjected to the same level of public and empirical scrutiny as other parts of the criminal justice system. To deepen understanding, I empirically explore for the first time the form, function and limits of the New Zealand Crown Prosecutor’s role at the sentencing stage of the criminal justice process. Semi-structured interviews of a non-representative sample of ten Crown Prosecutors are analysed using Hawkins’ framework of “surround”, “field” and “frame”. Findings suggest that whilst New Zealand’s regime shares history, principles, and structural features with English and Australian regimes, it goes further to permit Crown Prosecutors a more assertive role in sentencing. In the ‘surround’, populist and managerial pressures create frustration, strain, and concern. Changes to funding models suggest the potential for unjust sentencing outcomes has increased. The “surround” also intrudes upon and transforms decision-making “frames”. The opinions and presence of stakeholders influences decisions and practices at office and individual levels. Justice may be reactive, forward-looking, or negotiated depending on the particular mix of individuals involved – something accentuated by the regime’s privatised and decentralised form. Findings also suggest that Crown Prosecutors “frame” their role in occupational terms. The lack of interest of universities, professional bodies, and law and policy-makers in offering or requiring prosecutorial training before entry to the role is influential. This renders decision-making more susceptible to pressures in the “surround” and “field”, and increases variation in decision-making “frames”.     

荷兰刑事诉讼权利保障的法律基石

荷兰刑事司法受到了现代人权法律的深刻影响。在荷兰刑事诉讼过程中,诉讼权利保障主要依据国际性和地区性的人权条约以及相关国内法。荷兰刑事诉讼程序运作体现了对人权的真切关怀：荷兰签署加入了多部国际公约和欧洲区域公约,国际条约、欧洲人权法院的判例法都对荷兰刑事诉讼中的人权保障起到了重要作用。在国内法体系中,荷兰的《宪法》、《刑事诉讼法》以及其他法律也规定了刑事诉讼程序权利保障。荷兰的法院、检察机关组织运作体制和诉讼制度设计较为完备,保障了诉讼参与者在刑事诉讼程序中的权利。在刑事审前程序中,检察机关发挥了主导作用,但参与其问的侦查法官则对检察官和警察的侦查权形成了有效制衡。从刑事诉讼权利保障法律体系的整体而言,荷兰审前程序权利保障的体制属于适度的职权主义诉讼模式,而审判程序中的权利保障体制则兼采当事人主义和职权主义的混合式诉讼模式。