Transcript Access & Equity in the Legal System

Access & Equity in the Legal
System
Definitions
ACCESS: the extent to which citizens can
exercise their legal rights
EQUITY: the degree to which citizens are
treated with equal fairness by the
procedures and personnel of the legal
system
Criticisms
One law for the rich and one for the poor
Quality of legal representation determines
success more than having the “truth on
your side”
Law reinforces inequalities in society
Factors Affecting Access & Equity
Cultural
Social
Gender
This is an excellent site about all groups
facing access and equity issues
Culture
The personnel of the legal system (judges, lawyers
solicitors, police etc) is dominated by white English
speaking Anglo-Saxons
The Adversarial System is largely an ORAL system – most
evidence is presented orally and the parties must argue
orally
Non-English speakers are disadvantaged.
Provision of interpreters helps but translations of legal
language is imprecise. Some languages have few
interpreters available (indigenous languages)
Culture
Cultures vary in their “closeness” to the white Anglo-Saxon
culture
• Europeans have similar values & religious background
but different languages
• Asian immigrants may have different perceptions of
authority
• Africans come from societies where the rule of law may
not exist at all & view the legal system as an instrument
of a corrupt state
• Aboriginal people have different non-verbal cues in
communication that may be misinterpreted by judges
• Muslims may be prejudiced by recent events and may
not respect “secular law”.
Culture
New Anti Terror Laws are claimed by Islamic
leaders to target Muslims.
Read this short statement from The Ahlus
Sunnah wal Jama'ah Association about
Muslim attitudes to the new laws
Social Factors
Wealth is a MAJOR determinant of access and
equity because it permits the purchase of
expertise that is critical to success
• Kerry Stokes's leading barrister, English QC
Jonathan Sumption, is rumoured to be charging
up to £8000 a day.
Corporations are legally “individuals” but they may
claim legal expenses as tax deductions which
“real” people cannot – this is an inequality
Social Factors
Education:
The higher one’s
education the greater
the awareness of
legal rights and the
greater capacity to
exercise them
• 75% of prison
inmates have primary
education only
• 2% have finished high
school
• 6% have not
completed Year 10
• 10% are illiterate
• 40% are long term
unemployed
Social Factors
Wealth & education allow some to manipulate the
law
The personnel of the law (judges & lawyers etc)
are wealthy & educated – leading to the view
that the law “looks after its own”
Tony Oates was jailed by the Supreme Court for
asset stripping the Bond Corporation but was
free after 48 hours because of time already
served (2 years) in Poland & Australia
Social Factors
Gender:
The legal system is male dominated
Economic circumstances are lower for women than men.
This is caused by pay differences, more leave to raise
families etc– women earn 85% of the income men earn.
This reduces access to expensive legal options.
Women are dissuaded to greater extent than men by the
combative, intimidating and harrowing adversarial trial –
especially regarding sexual offences
Social Factors
Gender attitudes and the law…
• A male South Australian judge, Bollen J, said in R v Johns a married
woman could expect “rougher than usual handling” as part of her
sexual relationship with her husband (see bottom of page 6 of this
link to see Justice Bollen’s ratio)
• A Victorian judge said a prostitute who was raped would suffer less
trauma than other women
• Look here and here for what the Australian Law Reform
Commission found about the law and women
Social Factors
Gender cont’d…
Robyn Greenburg = 17 years jail for defrauding
clients of $37 million
Alan Bond = 4 years (appealed by prosecution to 7
years) jail for $1.2 billion fraud
See the Parliamentary Committee’s investigation
of the above (read only 1.29)
Attitudes of Members of the Legal
System
Youth perceptions of treatment by police
In a survey of young people…
• Most thought they were fairly treated by police
(68% metro, 60% rural).
• About 20% - 26% thought the police treated
them unfairly.
• Many (35%) younger drivers (16 to 18 years)
thought they were unfairly treated by police.
Source: Royal Automobile Association of South Australia
Attitudes of Members of the Legal
System
Check here (scan straight to the Summary
of Findings p 36) to find out about police
attitudes to young people
Geographical Location
Australia is a vast, sparsely habited land
Courts travel “on circuit” but costs and
delays are inevitable
See here for the NSW Law Foundation
report on geographical isolation
Aboriginal People
Aboriginal People are a disadvantaged group in
the legal system
Read this to find about the factors that contribute
to aboriginal legal problems. This is a document
written by Mick Dodson 1996 ATSIC Social
Justice Commissioner
Read this (scan straight to the conclusion on page
275) to find out about Aboriginal children and the
law
People with Disabilities
• Andrew Mallard was falsely convicted for
murder. He suffers bipolar disorder.
• Vivian Solon is an Australian citizen of Philippine
background. She was deported to the
Philippines as an illegal immigrant. She suffers
from a paranoid psychotic condition.
• Cornelia Rau is a permanent Australian resident
of German background. She was wrongfully
detained in an immigration detention centre.
She suffers from schizophrenia.
Review
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