access to justice in south africa: are there enough lawyers?

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ID: 187366
2013
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Ranked #63 of 65 articles by views in Molecular and biochemical parasitology

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Abstract
This paper addresses head on the contention by a prominent legal practitioner in South Africa that there are too many lawyers in the country. It does not canvass the complex issues involved in determining the meaning of access to justice or the relationship between law and society in the context of legal services, and deals with access to justice in the narrow sense of the delivery of legal services in South Africa. The paper analyses the evidence presented to substantiate the contention that there are too many lawyers against the socio-economic environment in South Africa and the requirements of the Constitution. It recognizes that the country has only a minority of people who can afford lawyers and compares the ratio of lawyers to people in this category with the ratio in other developed countries. It also recognizes that large numbers of people who cannot afford lawyers may need them and that such people will have to rely largely on the state-funded national legal aid body, Legal Aid South Africa and other mechanisms. The paper discusses the different modes of delivery of legal aid services by Legal Aid South Africa, as well as those provided by the legal profession pro bono, public interest law firms and mechanisms that compliment or are alternatives to lawyers, in the light of the number of practicing lawyers in the country. An analysis is made to determine if there are enough lawyers to provide the necessary legal services required by the Constitution in criminal matters, and for civil matters in general for those who can and cannot afford lawyers. The paper concludes that there are not enough lawyers in the country at present to provide access to justice in the narrow sense, and suggests how this shortage can be overcome by using mechanisms that provide alternatives to lawyers.

Este artículo se basa en la opinión de un prominente abogado de Sudáfrica, quien afirma que hay demasiados abogados en el país. No aborda las complejas cuestiones implicadas en determinar el significado del acceso a la justicia o la relación entre derecho y sociedad en el contexto de los servicios jurídicos, sino que se ocupa del acceso a la justicia en el sentido estricto de la prestación de servicios jurídicos en Sudáfrica. El artículo analiza las pruebas presentadas para defender que hay demasiados abogados para el nivel socio-económico de Sudáfrica, y los requerimientos de la Constitución. Se reconoce que el país tiene sólo una minoría de personas que pueden pagar abogados y compara la proporción entre abogados y personas en esta categoría con la proporción en otros países desarrollados. También reconoce que un gran número de personas que no pueden contratar un abogado pueden necesitarlo, y que esas personas tendrán que depender en gran medida de los servicios de asistencia jurídica nacional financiados por el estado, Legal Aid South Africa u organismos similares. El artículo analiza de qué manera presta servicios de asistencia jurídica Legal Aid South Africa, así como los prestados por los abogados pro bono, los bufetes de abogados de interés público y los mecanismos que complementan o son alternativos a los abogados, en base al número de abogados que hay en el país. Se realiza un análisis para determinar si hay suficientes abogados para proporcionar los servicios legales necesarios exigidos por la Constitución en cuestiones penales y civiles en general, tanto para los que pueden como los que no pueden pagar a un abogado. El artículo concluye que en la actualidad no hay suficientes abogados en el país para garantizar un acceso a la justicia en sentido estricto, y sugiere cómo se puede superar esa escasez mediante mecanismos que ofrezcan alternativas a los abogados.

Reference Key
mcquoid-mason2013oatiaccess Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors David Mcquoid-Mason
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Journal Molecular and biochemical parasitology
Year 2013
DOI
DOI not found
URL
http://ssrn.com/abstract=2272640
Keywords Keywords not found

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