NCJ Number
139367
Date Published
1992
Length
45 pages
Annotation
This report considers what can be done to help individual British citizens who cannot afford to pay for legal services in civil proceedings at current commercial rates.
Abstract
The proposals presented are based in the assessment that the current system of civil justice requires skilled and expensive lawyers and is not well suited to the needs of a modern democracy whose citizens find the civil judicial process daunting, particularly because of its costs. Additionally, central government has found it increasingly difficult both to staff the courts properly and to ensure that the necessary legal aid lawyers are paid a fair rate for their work. Overall, this report concludes there is a mismatch between what the ordinary citizen needs to resolve civil disputes and what the civil courts currently provide. In proposing a more consumer-oriented legal system, this report analyzes and offers recommendations for the courts themselves; different ways of paying lawyers; alternatives to the courts; and areas where, with suitable change, lawyers would not be required. Recommendations for modifications in civil court structure and procedures focus on an increase in claim size that qualifies for arbitration, improved court management, change in divorce procedure, and alternative procedures for resolving disputes on property and finance. Regarding legal fees the report includes recommendations regarding the establishment of a contingency legal aid fund and the reformation and simplification of legal aid financial conditions. Included in recommendations for alternative dispute-settlement procedures are descriptions of the features of successful systems of alternative dispute resolution.