法律援助在实践中存在的问题及对策——以苏州市为例

我国法律援助制度自20世纪90年代初建立以来,得到了长足发展,各地不但设立了法律援助机构,而且还拥有了一批素质较高的法律援助队伍。本文以地方建设法治化政府的实践为例,分析了苏州市法律援助的特点,认为地方政府应从人民群众最关心、最直接、最现实的利益问题入手,不断加强和改进法律援助这一政府职能,为社会提供积极有效的法律服务。     

Changing the immigration rules and withdrawing the ‘currency’ of legal aid: the impact of LASPO 2012 on migrants and their families

The provisions of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO 2012) will remove almost all immigration cases from the scope of legal aid with effect from 1 April 2013. Part One of this paper describes the expected changes LASPO 2012 will make and then explores their anticipated impact. It explains that large numbers of migrants and their family members are likely to be without legal advice and representation after April 2013, including in cases where the state-enforced removal or deportation from the UK of a parent is contemplated, with the consequence of separating parent from child. Part Two explores the possibility that an ‘exceptional case determination’ might provide a route back into legal aid funding, and finds that this is likely to be restricted, in immigration cases, to those making applications relying on Article 8 ECHR and who can demonstrate a particular and individual requirement for legal aid. Part Three explores the rationale for these changes, and concerns about access to justice for migrants and their family members in cases involving acute interference with rights to family and private life. It places these concerns in context, specifically the fundamental and restrictive amendments to the Immigration Rules relating to family migration introduced from July 2012. These amendments are enormously complex and their full legal implications have yet to be tested in the higher courts. Part Four questions whether the changes will in fact achieve their stated aim of cost savings or whether the costs will simply be transferred to other parts of the State (especially to the Tribunal system, in dealing with litigants in person). The paper additionally questions, in Part Five, whether the regulators are equipped to regulate the quality of the fee-charging immigration advice services to which at least some individuals will turn. The paper concludes that, at the very least, it is particularly harsh that the Government has removed the ‘currency’ of legal aid at this time, so that those with limited financial resources have neither access to legal aid advice about the meaning of those Rules nor legal aid representation to test their proper interpretation.     

我国法律援助机构设置中存在的主要问题及对策建议

目前,我国法律援助机构设置中存在的主要问题是法律援助机构性质不统一、职能不统一以及在同一层次上法律援助机构和法律援助管理机构并行.本文针对这些问题提出了解决思路和办法,认为名称应为法律援助机构、政府性质、单一系统模式即可.     

中国司法鉴定救助制度的实证研究

我国司法鉴定救助制度运作虽时日不久,但却积累了较为丰富的经验。实践中的典型案例和一些鉴定机构、法律援助部门的统计数据表明：目前规模性的鉴定救助兴起于2006年,并主要发生于民诉领域;同时,司法鉴定救助的对象大多是因交通事故、工伤等引发伤残鉴定的农民或农民工等弱势群体。毋庸置疑,鉴定机构与法律援助部门在推动我国司法鉴定救助方面起了重要作用。鉴定救助的现状是与当前司法鉴定制度改革背景、法律援助的多年经验,以及其它特殊条件共同促动的,虽然存在不少问题,但其探索启示了进一步的发展之路。     

双边投资保护协定中“非排除措施”条款研究

双边投资保护协定中的"非排除措施"条款通常出现于条约正文或相关议定书之中,是平衡东道国国家利益和投资者私人利益的标尺,具有显著的风险分配功能。与"非排除措施"相关的法律问题主要包括条款解释、审查标准两个方面。条款解释的"两阶段"理论有助于减少法的不确定性,值得肯定;在审查标准中应引入善意原则,以防止国家滥用"非排除措施"。在中美双边投资保护协定的谈判中应引入"非排除措施"条款,以切实保护投资者的利益。     

Mobilizing the Law in China: "Informed Disenchantment" and the Development of Legal Consciousness

This article critically examines the development of legal consciousness among legal aid plaintiffs in Shanghai. It is based on 16 months of research at a large legal aid center and in‐depth interviews with 50 plaintiffs. Chinese legal aid plaintiffs come to the legal process with high expectations about the possibility of protecting their rights; however, they also have only a vague and imprecise knowledge of legal procedure and their actual codified rights. Through this process of legal mobilization, plaintiffs' legal consciousness changes in two separate dimensions: changes in one's feelings of efficacy and competency vis‐à‐vis the law, and changes in one's perception/evaluation of the legal system. Put another way, the first dimension is “How well can I work the law?” and the second is “How well does the law work?” In this study I observe positive changes in feelings of individual efficacy and competency that are combined with more negative evaluations/perceptions of the legal system in terms of its fairness and effectiveness. The positive feelings of efficacy and voice provided by the legal process encourage labor dispute plaintiffs in the post‐dispute period to plan new lawsuits and to help friends and relatives with their legal problems. Disenchantment with the promises of the legal system does not lead to despondency, but to more critical, informed action. This study provides new evidence on the nature of China's developing legal system with a focus on the social response to the state‐led “rule of law” project.     

The Effects of Changes to Legal Aid on Lawyers' Professional Identity and Behaviour in Summary Criminal Cases: A Case Study

This article explores the effects of changes to legally aided representation on criminal cases in magistrates' courts according to data collected in an area of south‐east England. I consider the political factors that motivated changes to legal aid and suggest how these issues affecting lawyers' understanding of their role, and how that understanding affects the relationships between defendants, lawyers, and the magistrates' courts. I argue that the research indicates a potential relation between solicitors' risk‐taking behaviour in obtaining funding and the reintroduction of means testing: remuneration rates affect the service that defendants receive and the reintroduction of means testing decreased efficiency in summary criminal courts. Ultimately, I argue that changes to legal aid funding have increased lawyers' uncertainty about their role, leaving them torn between acting efficiently and providing a good level of service.     

Cause lawyering when it really matters: how Istanbul lawyers reacted to events in Gezi

This paper is about voluntary legal representation of detainees during the Gezi events in Istanbul in June 2013. By way of in-depth interviews conducted with attorneys who did the work, the paper seeks to understand the reasons for its emergence since there was government-funded legal aid in these matters. Another goal was to understand whether there were any ethical problems during its provision. Attorneys’ primary reason to volunteer seems to be that legal aid was not working. The second reason was their identification with the protesters. They therefore engaged in defensive cause lawyering and employed the law in creative and strategic ways to fight against a government crackdown. Cause lawyering was facilitated by an autonomous legal profession, legal aid, as well as a relatively independent prosecutorial service.     

Training prison inmates as paralegals: An experimental project

A program to train inmates as paralegals was established at a large state prison in the Midwest. Qualified inmates were randomly assigned to the training or to a control condition. Both groups were administered measures assessing legal knowledge, the use of legal knowledge, attitudes about the criminal justice system, and self-perceptions before and after training. The trainee group showed a significant increase in its amount of legal knowledge after training. Members of the trainee group also reported a significant increase in the number of other inmates requesting aid from them on legal problems. In addition, interviews were conducted with two random samples of the general inmate population, before and after the paralegal training program. These interviews revealed strong support for the training program, and this support increased over the period of the program. Limited data on longer-term effectiveness of the paralegal's performance in the prison legal aid clinic and in paralegal jobs following parole supported the positive, shorter-term results.     

Some Reflections on the Relationship between Citizenship, Access to Justice, and the Reform of Legal Aid

The reflexive, reciprocally constitutive relationship between law and society makes a substantive right of access to justice pivotal to the content of citizenship. It is therefore arguable that the establishment of legal aid, however limited in practice, was fundamental to the expanded citizenship which the post-war settlement sought to achieve. However this social form of citizenship has been attenuated by the reconfiguration of the state and the neo-liberal reconstruction of the public sector. Yet at the same time, the concepts of citizenship and social exclusion have become key discursive mechanisms in this reconstruction, including in the New Labour reform of the legal aid sector. This paper considers the various meanings attributed to the concepts of citizenship, social exclusion, and access to justice through the optic of the history of policy changes in legal aid. The impact of globalization and economic restructuring on social citizenship is explored, both in terms of the experience of recipients of public goods like legal services, and the professionals who supply them. The commensurability of the New Labour Community Legal Service (CLS) model with other models of justice is discussed. The conclusion briefly returns to the theme of law's 'citizen-constitutive' role and considers the potential of the CLS for combating social exclusion.     

有效援助论

法律援助制度运行成功与否，以其所提供的法律援助是否有效为衡量依据，而有效援助的实现应以法律援助质量保障体系为后盾。在借鉴各国有效援助经验的基础上，我国应不断完善法律援助的质量保障体系，即确立有效援助的标准，以高素质的法律援助提供者为依托，在法律援助监督机制的保障下，充分利用法律援助的经费。     

法律援助制度的几个问题

中国法律援助经历了从 1 994年初起发展到今天的过程。法律援助的概念有广、狭二义之分 ;其性质是法律之助 ,即援助公民个人或者人民法院不向受援人收费或者少收、缓收从而在法律方面提供帮助以维护其合法权益的行为。法律援助的特别包括 :具有国家、社会承担援助的公助性 ;受援人享受法律援助的无偿性和优惠性 ;律师、公证员等提供帮助的法律专业性。法律援助的理论基础有四 :权利保障之要求 ;实现控、辩双方力度平衡之条件 ;司法公正之所需和扶贫助弱法制化发展之必然     

现代法律援助制度中的国家责任

国家责任的有无是现代法律援助制度与传统法律援助制度相区别的主要标志。现代法律援助制度作为法治社会的一项人权保障制度 ,已经在许多国家的法律甚至宪法或宪法性文件中加以确立。法律援助的国家责任也被规定在一系列国际文件中。我国目前已建立法律援助制度 ,但并未形成现代法律援助制度。在我国向现代法律援助制度方向发展的过程中 ,确立我国法律援助的国家责任尤显必要。     

Socially responsible legal aid in Belgian society: time for a thorough rethink?

The legal aid movement started from the notion of social action. Today, legal aid constitutes a highly commodified field that continues to be dominated by jurists and lawyers. For this reason, the kind of critical reflection that already exists in social work is also required in relation to the notion of legal aid as envisaged by the legal aid movement. Justiciable problems necessarily manifest themselves in a social context. An evolving community, faced with increasingly complex issues, demands a multidisciplinary approach, as it becomes clear that the traditionally deterministic view of professions ought to be abandoned. A ‘socially responsible legal aid system’ therefore presupposes that various disciplines should mutually influence one another. Hence, the jurist and the social worker should not only work side by side, but they should also collaborate and mutually enhance one another's activities and approaches. There is a need for an overarching holistic approach that can reassert the legitimacy of legal aid. Looking at legal aid services in Belgium, one may conclude that a critical reflexive attitude on the part of current legal aid providers is crucial for attaining an effective socially responsible legal aid practice that stretches across the boundaries of different professional groups.     

The Biological Essence of Law

This paper contends that law is in essence an evolutionary phenomenon that can, and indeed should, be studied in the light of biological mechanisms. Law can be seen as an extended phenotype of underlying genes. In addition, legal systems can be seen as congruous to genetic mechanisms. Properties of genes have an impact on legal systems in a fractal‐like manner. Hence, it is not surprising that notions of stability, replication, and reciprocity that are important in biological systems will also be important in legal systems. As a result legal systems can be constructed in a way that is congruent with the genetic advantage of group members. Law, exposure, and punishment can diminish deviant behaviour and restore balance. Law may not be particularly subject to natural selection, but it will certainly be built on the foundations of natural selection.     

Legal aid services in Spain within the migration industry debate. Public policy,business or social compromise?

ABSTRACT

The objective of this article is to examine the unexplored role of public defenders who provide legal aid services to immigrants within the debate on the migration control and rescue industries. Although these services are provided by bar associations, public organizations that group private professionals, they are paid for with government funds due to regulations guaranteeing the right to legal defence. The main argument and conclusion of this article is that although lawyers working in these services receive public compensation for the legal aid they provide, they generally become public defenders due to personal beliefs, such as a commitment to protecting the rights of foreigners.     

FAMILY COURTS-20 YEARS AFTER REFORM

The Rt. Hon. Dame Elias discusses the changes the people of Australia and New Zealand have seen and can expect from their respective family courts. She goes on to say that if judges of the family court are to play a more positive role in society, they need to stay abreast of what is happening with current legal trends as they relate to the "best interest of the child" standard, equal rights (especially between genders), and changing international trends in family law. The Chief Justice also addresses problems concerning lack of legal aid funding and an increase in unrepresented litigants. The Chief Justice explains that these issues and problems can best be dealt with through legislative reform as well as family court reform. Where there is an influx of additional resources better preparing judges to deal specifically with those seeking justice in the family court, these additional resources should also lead to a greater general understanding of current trends in the community. Chief Justice Elias asserts that without community support, these issues cannot be resolved.     

当前农村弱势群体法律援助面临的问题和对策

近年来,我国法律援助制度建设取得长足进步,但针对农村弱势群体的法律援助明显滞后。究其原因主要有:现有法律规定不完善、法律援助适用标准模糊、资金来源渠道单一、法律援助队伍不健全、法律援助的实施缺乏有效监督。有鉴于此,应该以坚持基本权利保障、尊重个人发展权和公平正义原则为指导思想,细化农村弱势群体的法律援助适用标准,加强法律援助队伍的建设与监管,进一步健全和完善农村弱势群体法律援助制度。     

以科学发展观为指导推进法律援助制度建设

法律援助作为为经济困难的公民或者特殊案件的当事人提供免费法律服务的一项法律保障制度，其核心工作是合理设置法律援助组织机构、科学划分法律援助职责权限、有效保障及管理使用法律援助经费等。为此，应以学习实践科学发展观为契机，认真查找目前法律援助机构设置、职责权限分配、经费保障及使用管理等方面存在的主要问题并深入分析其成因，从制度体系建设层面对解决问题的措施和办法进行有益的探索。     

Contracts for Legal Aid: A Critical Discussion of Government Policy Proposals

In this paper, we examine the UK government's proposals for the reform of legal aid, which are based on block franchising. We identify several potential incentive-compatibility problems mainly concerned with the possibility of chiseling on quality after contracts are awarded or with supplier control of access to legal aid. Our suggestions for improving the scheme are based around awarding vouchers for legal aid.