The normative case for indigent defense systems

Today, every indigent person accused of a crime, where incarceration is a reasonably possible sentence, has the right to counsel apppointed by the State. From an historical perspective, this right is relatively new, since it has only evolved over the last 50 years and is the result of a variety of decisions by the Supreme Court of the United States. In essence, the States have developed three mechanisms to comply with these decisions: (1) Assigned Counsel Systems; (2) Contract Counsel Systems; and (3) Public Defender Systems. This paper (a) reviews the decisions applicable to indigents; (b) reviews existing indigent defense delivery systems; and (c) concludes that the independent State Public Defender Agency is the best system available from the perspectives of both the taxpayer and the defendant. In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him: to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence (U.S. Constitution, Amendment VI).     

Developing indicators to assess women's empowerment in Vietnam

From mid‐1999 to mid‐2001, the authors carried out a qualitative study in rural Vietnam to explore relationships between gender equity and reproductive health. One of the study's objectives was to develop culturally appropriate indicators of women's empowerment, specific to the Vietnamese context. This paper describes the process of developing, testing, and refining the empowerment indicators, presents some of the findings, and discusses the methodological challenges that need to be addressed. The paper concludes by recommending a set of Vietnamspecific domains for assessing women's empowerment in the socio‐economic sphere as well as in reproductive health.