Migrants and effective legal representation in criminal cases via legal aid systems

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

The European countries are obliged to fulfill the provisions of the European Convention on human rights regarding the protection of the accused rights’ and ensuring the principle of fair trial. Nowadays, because of the economic crisis more people are affected by poverty and many immigrants enter Europe. Poor and immigrants who break the law cannot afford to pay for the services of a lawyer and for the most of them the states provide legal aid assistance. This chapter indicates that in order to safeguard the accused rights’ it is mandatory for the legal aid lawyer to defend the accused effectively, otherwise the protection is just formal and does not fulfill the substantive conventional obligation of the State for fair trial. It is proposed for the States to establish qualitative criteria for the legal aid lawyers. The voluntary character of the legal aid scheme imposes an imperative duty for the lawyers to ensure fair trial for the poor.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationImmigration and the Current Social, Political, and Economic Climate
Subtitle of host publicationBreakthroughs in Research and Practice
PublisherIGI Global
Pages563-578
Number of pages16
Volume2
ISBN (Electronic)9781522569190
ISBN (Print)9781522569183
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2018

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