Expecting aid Attorneys ‘Unwilling’ to request Aid for vulnerable suspects

Criminal legal aid attorneys fighting to make ends meet cannot afford to shoulder the cost of intermediaries to aid with vulnerable clients in the police station while they await government approval, an influential human rights group has warned.

Intermediaries help vulnerable victims, witnesses, suspects and defendants give comprehensive, coherent and precise evidence to the authorities and to judges. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence quotes that three people arrested in police custody have a mental health issue.

Justice’s Mental Health and Fair Trial report, released today, says attorneys must now cover the expenses of an intermediary while they await Legal Aid Agency acceptance for the expenses of the intermediary assessments along with other pre-trial work. ‘This price danger makes many attorneys, who struggle with modest margins beneath their legal aid contracts, reluctant to request intermediaries even if they are mindful of their advantage,’ the report says.

Justice says its registered intermediary scheme should be extended by the Ministry of Justice for witnesses to defendants and suspects. Intermediaries also needs to bebedded’ in the police station, on a duty scheme foundation, so they can provide instant assistance.

Andrea Coomber, manager of Justice, said the organisation has ‘ long been worried’ the criminal justice process isn’t appropriately designed to accommodate individuals with mental health or learning problems.

She added: ‘There are still basic issues with the criminal justice system’s response to vulnerability and too few men and women receive reasonable adjustments to enable them to effectively take part in their defence.’

Justice makes 52 recommendations. It suggests that mental health experts, not police officers, should be liable for identifying individuals with exposure as a consequence of psychological ill health or learning impairment. A specialist prosecutor should be made for each Crown Prosecution Service place, accountable for producing charging decisions for all cases involving vulnerable men and women. Courts need to have a committed mental health judge as well as a capacity-based test of fitness to plead and fitness to stand trial. The Sentencing Council should draft a principle on psychological wellbeing and vulnerability.

Source

https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/practice/struggling-legal-aid-solicitors-reluctant-to-request-help-for-vulnerable-suspects/5063885.article

source http://www.hardmansolicitors.com/expecting-aid-attorneys-unwilling-to-request-aid-for-vulnerable-suspects/