The Gazette 1971

Social Programme Arrangements are also proceeding to provide an interesting Social programme. This provisionally in- cludes a reception for Conferees and their Guests to be given by the Government of the Principality o f Monaco on Tuesday, 12th September and by the Muncipality of Nice on Thursday, 14th September. It is hoped also to provide a special programme for the Lady guests of Conferees as well as a "French Evening" at a small restaurant on the heights of the Corniche behind Monte Carlo for a strictly limited number of Conferees on the evening of Wednesday, 13th September. The Conference will close with a Banquet and danc- ing to be held on Friday, 15th September in a suitably attractive venue. Hotels and Travel The Association has appointed as official travel

agents for the Conference the following : For Europe, Africa and the Middle East: Thomas Cook & Son Ltd., 45 Berkeley Street, London W.l.

Allocations available during the Conference period of Hotel Rooms from a block booking have been made. Registration Registration forms for the Conference are being sent out to all Patrons and Subscribers of the Association through the travel agencies, which will also send parti- culars of their own proposals for travel, hotel accom- modation and package or other tours. All lawyers interested in attending the Conference are invited to get into touch with and make their arrangements through their local office of the appropriate agency in their country.

Call for court duty solicitor to aid defendants Appointment of a "duty solicitor" in magistrates' courts to advise defendants on how to plead, to apply for bail or to make a speech in mitigation of sentence for them is strongly urged today by Justice, the all- party lawyers' organisation.

Exact figures were not available but a majority of those sent to prison by magistrates were unrepresented. The report stresses the large discrepancies in the refusal rate of legal aid between courts. In 1969 this ranged from 68 per cent, at Marlborough Street Court, London, to 32 per cent, at Bow Street and from 90 per cent, at Bootle to one per cent, at Carlisle. Of 565 women interviewed in Holloway prison, 81 per cent, of those sentenced to prison or borstal and 79 per cent, of those remanded in custody and not later imprisoned were not represented at their trial. The committee stresses that it is not criticising the "thousands of magistrates both lay and stipendiary who in our judgment render invaluable service to the community in the labours they perform so conscien- tiously." Under the duty solicitor scheme in Scotland, solicitors drawn from a roster are on duty at the court every day for a week. They see all prisoners in custody before they appear in court. Solicitors' fees for duty at the courts are paid from public funds. At Glasgow Sheriff Court, a duty solicitor can earn a maximum of £17 a day or £85 a week on the basis of one morning or afternoon session a day. Immediate Help Under the scheme, the unrepresented defendant receives the advice and help he immediately needs, says the report. The court is protected against doing injustice unwittingly and there would also be a saving in court time and on the cost of defendants now remanded in custody unnecessarily. Other recommendations of the committee are for more training of magistrates to ensure greater uni- formity in granting legal aid and the setting up of a supervisory committee responsible to the Home Secre- tary for keeping the criminal legal aid system under review. (Daily Telegraph, 15th Nov. 1971) 185

After an inquiry into the position of unrepresented defendants in magistrates' courts, Justice concludes in a report today that the present legal aid system is failing dismally. Large numbers of defendants were being sent to prison without being represented in court, defendants were pleading guilty because they had no proper legal advice and others were being remanded in custody unnecessarily. Urging adoption of the duty solicitor system already used in sheriff courts in Scotland and the Ontario Province of Canada, Justice says it would mean de- fendants had some form of legal representation at their first court appearance without exorgitant demands on the man-power of the profession or the Exchequer. Overwhelming Evidence The report has been drawn up by a committee includ- ing a stipendiary and a lay magistrate, practising barristers and sol'citors and academic lawyers. It has been endorsed by the Council of Justice, the British section of the International Commission of Jurists. From their own experience and recent studies in the courts by lawyers and social workers, the committee found that there was an "overwhelming and incontro- vertible body of evidence" that the legal aid system was not working as intended by a committee headed by Lord Widgery, now Lord Chief Justice, which reported five years ago. In only about four per cent, of the 1,700,000 cases tried m magistrates' courts in 1969 were defendants legally represented. Yet magistrates tried a large number of serious cases and sent more people to prison tha the higher courts.