[DRAFT] Legal Assistance for the Poor

[Wildeson]

Under: Furtherment of Democracy
Strength: Mild

ACKNOWLEDGING the importance of attorneys-at-law in the criminal justice system.

CONCERNED about the number of cases wherein the poor are denied lawyers because they cannot afford them.

FURTHER CONCERNED about the numerous cases of unlawful conviction of the poor because of lack of funds to pay up for legal services.

BELIEVING that in order for the justice system to be truly functional, both sides, the defendant and complainant, must have an attorney.

RESOLVING to make criminal justice systems in WA countries fairer.

HEREBY:
1. REQUIRES each nation to pick from the 3 choices below:
a.) CREATE in each nation, publicly-funded law firms which will be working for the poor.
b.) GIVE tax cuts to law firms who will be offering their services to low-income individuals
c.) CHOOSE both choices A and B

2. MANDATES that the nations of the WA must provide, within 48 hours and when requested, detained low-income individuals with a free lawyer from the firms mentioned above.

3. PROHIBITS court hearings to be started and done when the defendant and/or complainant lack an attorney.

4. SOLEMNLY AFFIRMS the right of a citizen to have some form of legal assistance.

[Wildeson]

Mods sent me a telegram saying,
"You submitted a Proposal that was unfortunately invalid. If you would like to submit another proposal, please familiarize yourself with the guidelines in the Proposal Rules forum thread. You set out what your proposal aims to do, but you don't say how the WA nations are supposed to do it. You should make it more precise, defining such phrases as "legal department" (a government department? the broad meaning "general legal area"?). A WA proposal needs to tell the member nations what you're setting out to do (aims -- preamble) and then tell them exactly how to do it (active clauses such as "mandates (this action)", "recommends (that action)", "forbids (another)"). Try posting a draft version on the forums for peer review by other players."

Hope I corrected what needs to be corrected.

[Bergnovinaia]

Check to make sure this doesn't overlap with previous resolutions, because it sounds like it might.

[Kryozerkia]

You may also want to acquaint yourself with pre-existing resolutions on this area.

resolution #37: Fairness in Criminal Trials

INSISTS that the accused be permitted expert representation by a professional versed in the area of law concerned;

As you can see, the forth clause from your proposal is already covered.

FURTHER INSISTS that governmental or charitable mechanisms be set up to provide such representation to those accused otherwise unable to afford it;

Oh and what do you know, there is already an existing requirement for governments to provide legal assistance to those unable to afford it.

The following from your proposal, 3. PROHIBITS court hearings to be started and done when the defendant and/or complainant lack an attorney., would cause unnecessary delays in any legal system and would cause contradictions as existing resolutions, namely resolution #37 and resolution #67: Habeas Corpus both aim to achieve a speedy trial.

Your concerns that a person may not be adequately represented are covered in these resolutions.

The language of this clause would cause the delays because it doesn't respect an individual's choice to forgo legal assistance at their own choice. It effectively states that a trial cannot proceed without the person electing to have a legal representative.

Check to make sure this doesn't overlap with previous resolutions, because it sounds like it might.

It might, you say?

[Ardchoille]

And if you're wondering where you can find all that info when Kryo's not around, check here to see the resolutions the GA has passed.

Once you're sure you've really got a new idea for a proposal, the next thing you should think about is what category to write it for. The Proposal Rules link in the TG will take you to a description of each category and what sort of thing proposals in that category are supposed to do.

If you're having trouble deciding, go back to the passed resolutions and see what category other writers have chosen for other resolutions that deal with the same sort of subject.

You should also decide how strongly the WA is going to enforce the new law you're about to write. Is it just going to urge WA nations to do something (mild) or is it going to mandate every single clause of it (strong)?

When you come to writing it, that's when the category is really important, because you can write it to fit -- so if the category says it has to affect military budgets, you might put in something about how nations will need to recruit more soldiers to make what you're proposing happen.

All this, in much more detail, is in the stickied threads. It all seems a bit overwhelming at first, but trying to actually write a proposal and let other comment on it is a good way to clear it up a bit.

Reading this thread helps, too: Silly and/or Illegal GA Proposals, zomg!. The players who post there might seem to be having a bit too much fun sometimes , but they know their stuff.

[Wanjestay]

All this, in much more detail, is in the stickied threads. It all seems a bit overwhelming at first, but trying to actually write a proposal and let other comment on it is a good way to clear it up a bit.

read the stickies?! what kind of blasphemy is this? don't you know the misinformed shall inherit the earth!

Reading this thread helps, too: Silly and/or Illegal GA Proposals, zomg!. The players who post there might seem to be having a bit too much fun sometimes , but they know their stuff.

how dare they. ignorance is holyness! information is the tool of the oppressor!

the above post means nothing. it exists on a metaphysical plain of humor that most do not understand, are not able to understand or are too intelligent to respond to.

on topic: what the mods said.

[Wildeson]

You may also want to acquaint yourself with pre-existing resolutions on this area.

resolution #37: Fairness in Criminal Trials

INSISTS that the accused be permitted expert representation by a professional versed in the area of law concerned;

As you can see, the forth clause from your proposal is already covered.

FURTHER INSISTS that governmental or charitable mechanisms be set up to provide such representation to those accused otherwise unable to afford it;

Oh and what do you know, there is already an existing requirement for governments to provide legal assistance to those unable to afford it.

The following from your proposal, 3. PROHIBITS court hearings to be started and done when the defendant and/or complainant lack an attorney., would cause unnecessary delays in any legal system and would cause contradictions as existing resolutions, namely resolution #37 and resolution #67: Habeas Corpus both aim to achieve a speedy trial.

Your concerns that a person may not be adequately represented are covered in these resolutions.

The language of this clause would cause the delays because it doesn't respect an individual's choice to forgo legal assistance at their own choice. It effectively states that a trial cannot proceed without the person electing to have a legal representative.

Check to make sure this doesn't overlap with previous resolutions, because it sounds like it might.

It might, you say?

Thank you for your response.

I could see that in resolution #37 it insists, but in my resolution it mandates.

And, yes, you are right about the part wherein my #3 overlaps the writ of habeas corpus so I will just remove that.

[Ardchoille]

Whether it "mandates" or "insists", it's still making the WA member nations do something that you wanted to make them do with your proposal. So you would have to leave that part out of your proposal.

You'd also have to leave out all the other bits where your proposal tries to bring in an idea or an action that's already in force.

The message I get from Kryo's very thorough analysis is that, when you look at the body of existing laws, the essence of this proposal is already covered elsewhere; that is, that you need to try a different subject. That's why I was giving you the generalised How-To in my post.