Chapter 96 Lesson Starter What might you do right now if you found yourself involved in a civil dispute Who could you turn to for assistance Would you bother exercising ID: 268826
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Slide1
Difficulties faced in civil disputes
Chapter 9.6Slide2
Lesson Starter
What might you
do, right now, if
you
found
yourself involved
in a civil
dispute?
Who
could
you
turn to for assistance?
Would you
bother exercising
your civil
rights, or would they just give
up?
Do you speak another language? Can you explain in your own language legal concepts such as “the balance of probabilities’ or “duty of care’?
What difficulties do you discover?Slide3
High legal costs can deter individuals from going to court
If
a case is to be heard in one of the formal courts, it is imperative that each party has legal representation
.
‘do
it yourself’ legal representation
is a current trend but
most people do not possess the skill and expertise to organise and argue a case
successfully
Statistically those
who are unaided by counsel have a very low success rate.
If people decide to pursue their civil rights in the courts and employ legal representatives, they run the risk of having to pay for the other party's legal costs if they lose the case as well as their own costs.
In
civil cases generally, the loser will pay the winner's party–party costs, which are those legal costs charged as a result of direct communication between the plaintiff and defendant's lawyers.
Solicitor–client
costs, which in many cases can form the bulk of the legal costs, are not, however, paid by the losing party.Slide4
Legal aid
This is
available to help finance the cost of legal
representation
it
is limited in civil cases that include veterans affairs, social security, immigration and
discrimination
sometimes
lawyers do agree to do
pro
bono
work, where they represent the client for very low fees or no fee at all
.
This
occurs when clients may be underprivileged and lawyers may feel they have a right to pursue the client's legal rights, thus providing a service to the community.Slide5
Delays can deter individuals from exercising legal rights
An
individual who initiates legal action must be fairly confident of success after weighing up the financial costs and the time commitment of going to court to defend one's rights.
Civil
trials in the formal courts can be lengthy and, if the other party appeals against the decision, it may take even longer for the matter to be resolved
.
In
the
Ballerini
Case
, the actual trial commenced in September 2004 and then went to appeal in June 2005. Jason
Ballerini
won his appeal in 2005 and the council was refused leave to appeal any further by the High Court. The decision represents the end to a long legal battle.Slide6
Ignorance of the law and language barriers
they
may be unaware that the law protects their rights
Some
lack knowledge of Australian law because Australian law may be different from the law in their country of origin.
The volume
and complexity of the law can make it difficult for the average person to understand what laws to abide
by
I
gnorance
of how to obtain legal
advice
difficult
to adequately communicate his or her version of the legal dispute
difficulty
identifying how to solve their legal
problem
may
feel intimidated because of a lack of knowledge of the
lawSlide7
Civil reform
Justice
Statement 2 identifies two inherent flaws in our legal system
—
the
cost of resolving a legal dispute in the courts is too expensive and it is time consuming.
move
away from the adversarial system
to more
efficient ways to solve disputes, such as mediation.
The
adversarial system of trial has been criticised because the strict rules of evidence and procedure
Mediation
is one of the main methods of dispute resolution that has become commonplace, even in the formal courts.
J
udge-led
mediation. The judge will take a more active role in helping parties reach a solution to their dispute than ever before.
encourage
people to solve disputes outside the court system, and the establishment of specialist courts and
tribunalsSlide8
In summary:
The main difficulties faced by parties when attempting to resolve civil disputes include:
lack of
awareness
of their civil rights
ignorance
of available assistance
communication
problems
access to legal
representation
.Slide9
Your Turn
Complete questions 1-5 page 249
Legal Aid:
https://
www.legalaid.vic.gov.au/get-legal-services-and-advice
Use the above ling to find out more about what legal aid does. Writ a paragraph about this