Legal Aid Services in Nigeria and United States of America: An Epileptic Justice System
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.69974/glslawjournal.v8i2.213Keywords:
Legal Aid, Access, Court, Justice, Human RightsAbstract
Equal and efficient access to justice system among the citizens of Nigeria and United States of America is inadequate due to economic problems, poor government policies and inadequate legal aid services. Therefore, there is need to eradicate or at least, minimise the barriers militating against adequate opportunity to access justice system through legal aid services by the low-income persons. This paper seeks to examine the concept and effects of legal aid services on the citizens of Nigeria and United States of America. It should be noted that the right of access to court and access to justice of the citizens of the two countries under review is constitutional. To achieve the above stated objectives, the research methodology employed in this paper is qualitative. Hence, the paper adopted doctrinal approach which entails library – based analysis of the content of both the primary and secondary sources of information. The primary sources in this regard include the various international instruments such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948, Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms 1985, African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, Legal Services Corporation Act of 1974, the European Convention on Human Rights as well as national legislations such as the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as altered), and the Constitution of the United States of America, Legal Aid Act, L.F.N; 2011and case laws. The secondary sources on the other hand are textbooks, journal articles, law reports, newspapers and internet materials. The paper found that despite the provisions of the Laws mentioned above, viz-a-viz the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), the Constitution of the United States of America 1992 (as amended) and the European Convention on Human Rights. Some bottlenecks are impeding the actual and efficient implementation of adequate legal aid services to the prospective beneficiaries in Nigeria and United States of America. This paper concluded that for people to enjoy effective and efficient access to court and access to justice through legal aid services, the government should establish a number of mechanisms and avenues that would guarantee the right to access to court and access to justice through legal aid services in civil and criminal cases alike to everybody, irrespective of their financial positions. This will further activate proper dispensation of substantial justice to all citizens on equal basis without any form of discrimination or bias.
Downloads
References
Regan, F., ‘The Transformation of Legal Aid: Comparative and Historical Studies’ (Oxford University Press, 1999) pp.88-90 available at https://en.m.wikipedia .org-legal.
Catherine et al., Oxford Dictionary of Current English 518 (10th ed. 2006).
Bryan A. Garner, Black's Law Dictionary 912 (8th ed. 2004).
Section 36(6)(c), Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as altered 1999); U.S. Const. art. VI.
See Preamble to Legal Aid Act, No. 17, Cap. A21, Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (2011).
Id. at 2d Sch.
See Legal Services Corporation Act of 1974, Pub. L. NO. 355, 88 state. 378, (1974). See also Rebecca, B.P., “Making Justice Equal” available at https://www.americamprogress.org/issues/criminal-justice/…/12/making-justice-equal.
Id.
Id.
Id.
Id.
See Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms art. 6(3)(c), Nov. 4, 1950, 213 U.N.T.S. 221.
T.J. Omidoyin, Epileptic Legal Aid Scheme in Nigeria: A Breach of Right to Fair Hearing in Nigeria, 10 J.L. & Const. Prac. 32, 32 (2017).
F.M.B.N. v. Olloh (2002) 4 S.C. (pt. II) 117 at 122–23 (Nigeria); Black’s Law Dictionary 518 (8th ed. 2004).
INEC v. PDP (1999) 11 NWLR (pt. 626) 194 at 195 paras. b–c (Nigeria); NNPC v. Lutin (2006) 1 S.C.N.J. 131 at 143–44 (Nigeria); Gafar v. Govt. of Kwara State (2007) 4 NWLR (pt. 1024) 375 at 408 paras. B–C (Nigeria); Adetayo v. Ademola (2010) 15 NWLR (pt. 1215) 169 at 190–91 paras. G–A, 198 paras. B–D, 205 paras. B–D, D–F (Nigeria); Unipetrol (Nig.) Plc v. E.S.B.T.R. (2006) 8 NWLR (pt. 983) 624 at 636 paras. A–C (Nigeria).
Fidelity Bank Plc v. Monye (2012) 10 NWLR (pt. 1307) 1 at 31 (Nigeria).
Kotoye v. Saraki (1994) NWLR (pt. 367) 414 at 460–61 (Nigeria).
Udoh v. Orthopedic Hospital Management Board (1993) 7 NWLR (pt. 304) 1339 (Nigeria); INEC v. PDP (1999) 11 NWLR (pt. 626) 200 (Nigeria); Buhari v. Yusuf (2003) 14 NWLR (pt. 841) 446 (Nigeria); Opia v. INEC (2014) 7 NWLR (pt. 1407) 431 at 464 (Nigeria).
INEC v. PDP (1999) 11 NWLR (pt. 626) 174 at 195 paras. B–C (Nigeria).
Supra note 22.
National Centre for State Courts, “The Landscape of Civil Litigation in State Courts” (2015) available at http://www.ncsc .org/~/media/Files/PDF/Research/Civil Justice Report-2015. Ashx. See also Jessica, K.S.,“Demand Side Reform in the Poor People’s Court” Connecticut Law Review 47 (3) (2015): 741 – 807 available at http://connecticutlawreview .org/files/2015/01/9-steinberg. Pdf.
Deborah L. Rhode, Access to Justice (2004).
Eric, S.A., et al., Testimony Before the Council of the District of Columbia Committee on the Judiciary hearing on B21 – 0879, “Expanding Access to Justice Act of 2016”. 19 th October, 2016 available at https://www.legalaiddc.org/wp-content/uploads/…/bharrison_son_B21_879_10.19.16. pdf..
John Pollock, “The Case Against Case-by-Case: Courts Identifying Categorical Rights to Counsel in Basic Human Needs Civil cases’’ Drake Law Review 61 (2013): 763-815 available at https://civilrighttocounsel .org/uploaded_files/4/The_Case_Against_Case_by_Case_Pollock_Pdf.
Id.
Earl, J., “Lifting the American Exeptionalism Curtain. Options and Lessons From Abroad”, Hasting Law Journal 67 (2016) 1225-1264, available at https://www.hastingslawjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/John son-67. 5. Pdf. See also World Justice Project, “Rule of Law Index 2015” (2015), available at https://worldjustproject.org/sites/default/files/roli_2015_O. pdf. The report ranks United States 65 th out of 102 countries on access to Civil Justice.
Jane, C.T., “The 141 Stances Donald Trump Took During His White House”. NBC News, November 28, 2016, available at http://www.nbcnews.com/politices/2016-election/full-list-dolnald-trump-s-rapidly-changing-policy- positions-n547801. Fortune; “Civil Rights Groups Sound the Alarm About the Trump Administration”. November 15, 2016
National Poverty Centre, “Poverty in the United States” available at http://www.npc.umich.edu/poverty;. See also Deborah, B.R; et al., “Low-income Working Families, The Racial/ethnic Divide” (The Working Poor Families Project, Washington, 2015) available at http://www.Working Poor Families.org/wp- content/uploads/2015/03/WPFP-2015-Report-Racial-ethnic-Divide. Pdf.
See National Women’s Law Centre, “NWLC Analysis of 2014 Poverty Census Data” October 21, 2015 available at http://nwlc.org/recources/nwlc-anaysis-2014-Census-poverty-data.
See Columbia Law School Human Right Institution and Northeastern University School of Law Program on Human Rights and the Global economy, “Equal Access to Justice: Ensuring meaningful Access to Counsel in Civil cases, including Immigration Proceedings” (2014) available at http://web.law.Columbia. Edu/sites/default/files/microsites/human-rights-institute/filed/equal_access_to justice_cerd_shadow_report.pdf.
Juliette, C., et al., “Poverty Among Seniors: An updated Analysis of National and State Level Poverty Rates Under the Official and Supplemental Poverty Measures’’ (Kaiser Family Foundation, Washington, 2015) available at http://kff .org/medicare/issue-brief/poverty-among-seniors-an-updated-analysis-of-national-and-state-level- poverty-rates-under-the-official-and-supplemental-poverty-measures. See also Jeffrey, D., et al., “Increasing Access to Justice For the Elderly and Other: The Illinois experience”. Experience 24 (1) (2014) available at http://www.americanbar .org/publications/experience/2014/spring/increasing- access_Justice_the_elderly_and_others_illinois_experience. Html.
Franklyn Palm, Why Disability and Poverty Still Go Hand in Hand 25 Years After Landmark Law, NPR (July 23, 2015), http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/07/23/424990474/why-disability-and-poverty-still-go-hand-in-hand-25-years-after-landmark-law.
Legal Services NYC,” Poverty Is an LGBT Issue: An Assessment of the Legal Needs of Low-Income LGBT People” (2016) available at http://www.legalservicesnyc.org/storage/PDFs/igbt% 20rep ort. Pdf. Badgett, M.V.L., et al” New Patterns of Poverty in the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Community” (Williams Institute, IOS Angeles, 2013) available at http://www. Williams Instiitute. Law. Uncla.edu/wp_contents_uploads/LGB-poverty-update- June-2013pdf; Nico, S.Q., “Poverty in the LGBT Community” (Centre For American Progress, Washington, 2009, available at http://www..americanprogress.org/up-contents/uploads/issues/2009/07/pdf/igbt_poverty.pdf.
State of New Jersey v. Terrence Miller, NO. A6243-07T4, Superior Court of New Jerssey, Appellate Division, June 13, 2011 available at http://caselaw.findlaw.com/nj-superior-court-appellate-division/1570547.html, Terrence Miller met his Legal practitioner (appointed for him by the court for his defence) for the first time on the morning of his first hearing on drug charges. The legal practitioner who had not handled a criminal case in seven years, was assigned to Miller’s case about four days to the hearing of the case. He was only able to speak to Miller for a few minutes before the commencement of the trial, still, the presiding Judge denied Miller’s lawyer’s request for adjournment to prepare and Miller was convicted in just a few days. On appeal against the conviction, an appellate court in New Jerssey affirmed the conviction on the ground that Miller failed to prove that the trial would have gone differently, had he met his legal practitioner earlier. See also Andrew, C.,“How much does a Public Defender Need to Know About a Client’’, The Atlantic, October 23, 2013 available at http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/10/how-much-does-a-public-defender-need-to-know-about-a-client/280761/.
See Bureau of Justice Assistance‘‘Contracting for Indigent Defense Services: A Special Report (U.S. Department of Justice, 2000) available at http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/bja/181160.pdf.
People of color are disproportionately represented among those in poverty and in the criminal justice system due in part to racial profiling and bias at stages from investigation to prosecution.
Caroline Wolf Harlow, Bureau of Just. Statistics, U.S. Dep’t of Just., Defense Counsel in Criminal Cases (2000), https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/dccc.pdf.
Heidi Williamson & Jamila Taylor, Ctr. for Am. Progress, The Hyde Amendment Has Perpetuated Inequality in Abortion Access for 40 Years (2016).
See Legal Services Corporation.
Brennan Centre for Justice, “The Restriction Barring LSC Funded Programs from Freely Using their – Non – LSC Money”, June 20, 2001, available at https://www.brennancentre.org.
Caroline Wolf Harlow, Bureau of Just. Statistics, U.S. Dep’t of Just., Defense Counsel in Criminal Cases (2000), https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/dccc.pdf.
Id.
Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963).
American Bar Association Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants “Gidean’s Broken Promise: America’s Continuing Quest for Equal Justice” (2004) available at https://www.americanbar.org.
Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, Nov. 4, 1950, 213 U.N.T.S. 221.
Vessela, T., “The Right to Access to Court Under Case Law of the European Court of Human Rights available at web.worldbank.org.
Available at www.un.org/rul-of-law-and-human-rights; https://www.un.org/ruleoflaw/rule-of-law-and-human-rights.
Id.
