Legal Aid Disadvantages

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A group in society that is considered to be disadvantaged is Aboriginal and Tories State Islanders (ATSI). ATSI have received justice under the law to achieve fair treatment due a history of wrongs. Land rights, circle sentencing and individual access for financial aids such as ab study and other Centrelink benefits are accessible to those who require assistance. In 2003, the Criminal Procedure Amendment (Circle Sentencing Intervention Program) Regulation 2003 (Nsw) was created to reduce barriers, increase ATSI confidence in sentencing and ensure sentencing options are suitable to offenders. The amendment shows that justice is achieved by treating differing group’s inequality to ensure that those in the society who are disadvantaged have …show more content…

This government scheme ensures that all individuals have access to a fair trial through the use of means and merits tests. Although Legal Aid has the aim to ensure fair and just trials, it is only accessible to some members of society and can, therefore, be considered to not achieve equality. In a one-year period ending on the 19th of April 2016, 104,732 applicants applied for legal aid and 89,329 individuals received assistance. This means that 85% of cases requiring legal representation were approved. Legal Aid is an example of applying the rule of law. This measure ensures that all individuals have access to equal opportunities and protection of minorities and disadvantaged groups within society. Although the aim of Legal Aid is to achieve equality, not all individuals can access it, and therefore has the primary aim of achieving justice. In conclusion, the Australian legal system uses justice to ensure the rule of law is upheld. In some areas, equality is favored as a method of achieving justice however, this does not always occur. The ideology that the concept of justice simply means that the law should be applied equally to all members of society above is incorrect and can be shown by the differing treatment for ATIS and the use of legal aid. Yet, more can be done to ensure justice is achieved for all individuals and to show a constant stance of

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