Kids forced to represent themselves in court: The NT’s legal aid crisis
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What is the current legal aid crisis in the Northern Territory?
it's really important to remember that this is an adversarial system you're up against trained and experienced criminal lawyers who do nothing in their professional lives other than to prosecute criminal cases for most of us facing court with no lawyer and no legal advice in a case that could change the course of your life would be unthinkable The stakes are incredibly high, particularly with the government pursuing a tough on crime agenda. It's never been easier to end up in a territory jail.
But that's the situation facing dozens of defendants in the Northern Territory. Many of them disadvantaged. Many of them with English as their second or third language. Some just children. All being forced to go it alone in a legal system most adults would struggle to navigate.
It's one thing to be tough on crime, but if you're going to be tough, you have to be fair.
Lawyer Clancy Dayne says a shortage of legal aid, exacerbated by the Territorian Government's tough-on-crime agenda, is leaving vulnerable people without the right to a fair trial.
How does the shortage of legal aid impact vulnerable defendants?
Now he's fighting to change that. I'm Daniel James, and you're listening to 7am. Today, Territorial Criminal Lawyer's Principal, Clancy Dane, on what he says is the worst legal aid crisis this country has ever seen.
It's Wednesday, May 27th.
Clancy, can you start by telling me about the shortage of legal aid in the Northern Territory right now and the changes that have meant that dozens of people don't have access to a lawyer?
So in November of last year, Legal Aid in the Northern Territory announced that, subject to a few exceptions, no legal aid would be available for people who are not in prison. The core reason for that, according to a letter from the Northern Territory Legal Aid Director, which was leaked to the media, is that $3.3 million was cut from Legal Aid this year, which represents a bit over 20% of their budget.
Because we know if we can make police's job better, if we can build more prison beds, have a better justice system, we are going to be able to deliver a safer territory.
That comes at a time where the criminal justice system in the Northern Territory is in overdrive because of that same government's tough on crime policies.
So we have done an incredible feat where we have increased the prison population exponentially because people who commit crimes are now facing consequences for their actions.
What are the consequences of self-representation in court?
So if you are accused of a crime now and you're lucky enough under our new bail laws to keep your liberty... and you can't afford to pay for a lawyer, there is every chance you will have to represent yourself. There's a sad irony there that the people who get bail and can stay out of custody tend to be the same people who don't have much, if any, criminal history.
And nothing will stop us delivering on our commitments to reduce crime, rebuild the economy and restore our beautiful lifestyle.
The NT government says this isn't about funding cuts. What are they saying about this? Does it stack up with what you're seeing? What's their defence?
Well, it's an incredible situation and disturbing for me to watch where, as far as I've seen, the Attorney-General has just flat out denied that there have been legal aid cuts.
You say that you're standing up for Aboriginal Territorians, but there is a portion of the community, namely Indigenous Territorians, who feel alienated and targeted by a number of the reforms that your government has been putting in place.
How are Indigenous Territorians affected by the legal aid cuts?
Do you recognise that rift? Our laws apply to everybody equally, and it's certainly not racist to want a safer community, and I stand by that.
She talks about an increase to baseline funding for legal aid, but the baseline funding wasn't the whole picture. So we've got an attorney general who is just denying what is really the liberality of people on the ground, and a letter from the legal aid director that says that they have experienced a funding cut.
And what about the scale of the problem? How many people are we talking about here? And how serious are some of the charges that these people are facing without a lawyer?
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the current legal aid crisis in the Northern Territory?
0:00–1:08
2
How does the shortage of legal aid impact vulnerable defendants?
1:08–2:49
3
What are the consequences of self-representation in court?
2:49–3:52
4
How are Indigenous Territorians affected by the legal aid cuts?
3:52–4:53
5
What specific challenges do children face in the legal system?
4:53–5:37
6
How does the government justify the funding cuts to legal aid?
5:37–6:20
7
What are the broader implications of unrepresented defendants on the justice system?
6:20–7:19
8
What steps are being taken to address the legal aid crisis?
7:19–16:51
Speakers
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