Research Essay
Introduction
Australia has taken from English Law in adopting the cab rank rule, encoded in The Victorian Bar Incorporated Practice Rules 2009 (Vic). This essay will discuss the application of the rule, the strengths and weaknesses and will conclude to discuss why the rule should remain an integral part of the Bar despite many calls for its abolition.
What is the “cab rank principle”?
The cab rank rule states that a lawyer practicing solely as a barrister must accept a brief in a field they profess to practice. Barristers are professionally bound by this duty if the brief is in the barrister’s capacity, skill and expertise; the barrister is available to appear and is not committed to other engagements which may inhibit their ability to advance a client’s interests; the fee offered is acceptable to the barrister; and the barrister is not obliged or permitted to refuse the brief pursuant to any exceptions.
Strengths and Weaknesses
There are two main rationales behind the cab rank principle; access to justice and protection of barristers. The former has been widely accepted as a worthwhile and valuable goal, while the latter is often overlooked. The two justifications are equally important, and both have strengths and weaknesses.
Firstly, as barristers are professionally bound to accept a brief, the cab rank rule promotes access to justice by ensuring legal representation is available to all, including the undesirable client or the unpopular cause. This ensures equality before the law and allows clients to be represented by a barrister of their choice. As the choice belongs to the client, not the lawyer, this improves the quality of legal representation available. It promotes the ideal of service for t...
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Justice was dilatory, expensive, uncertain, and remote. To the rich it was a costly lottery: to the poor a denial of right, or certain ruin. The class who might profit most by its dark mysteries were the lawyers themselves. (Plucknett 73)
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Since 15th century, barristers have been split up into two professions in United Kingdom, Barristers and Barristers. Barristers have traditionally been the people who research cases, deal with clients directly, and Barristers have had the rights of advocate in courts. Hence, Barristers' ethical duties are very important to the court and the client, and this is an essay to discuss the duties to the court, clients and conflicts in between.
Esteemed former Chief Justice, Sir Harry Gibbs, asserted that public confidence ‘in the judiciary can be maintained only if the judges are seen to be not only fully competent to perform their functions, but also independent, impartial and of complete integrity’ and thus, the best method of appointing Justices ought to be in place to fulfill these qualities and allow this confidence to thrive. Therefore, this essay will argue that the current method of appointment of Justices to the High Court should be reformed to better serve the fundamental principles of the Rule of Law and Separation of Powers. This will be argued in accordance with the assertion that the ideal method of reform is informed by what is
The fundamental purpose of the requirement that an originating process (“OP”) be served by personal service, prior to the commencement of proceedings, is to promote procedural fairness and natural justice . This essay will examine personal service in the context of civil procedure and the governing procedural rules pertaining to the personal service of an OP in New South Wales , as outlined in the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) ("UCPR"). To avoid doubt, unless the context indicates otherwise, “defendant” and “claim” shall include the singular and the plural as an OP may comprise of multiple defendants and/or multiple claims.
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The aim of this essay is to provide a clear understanding of the concept of the rule of law and the different definitions of the concept and indicate which of the definitions is the best. In order to show clear understanding of the concept of the rule of law this essay will include: the definition of the rule of law, features and aims of the rule of law, the different contending definitions of the concept of the rule of law and brief summary of the different views, how the rule of law is protected in the UK, before concluding with a personal opinion on which of the contending definitions is best and reasons why the definition is the best.
“We are blessed in the united kingdom by a judiciary whose integrity, dependence, professional-ism and skill that is not in question. But we take such a condition for granted at our peril. Justice is a delicate plant. It has to be ruptured, protected, cared for” Straw, Jack (July, 2007).
The courts of England and Wales acknowledge that the above must be something of value, in order to amount to consideration. A valuable consideration in the perspective of the English La...