By Hannah Ellis-Petersen
BEIRUT: If you’ve ever watched an American crime drama, you’ve probably heard this: “If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you.”
Legal aid is a vital component of democracy, as it ensures that those who do not have financial means are still treated fairly by the justice system. But the legal aid system in Lebanon is in a “real crisis” according to experts and lawyers, as well as a recent report by the World Bank.
“In Lebanon we pay nothing. The government gives no financial support at all toward helping people access justice,” says Joe Karam, a lawyer with the Beirut Bar Association who led a recent investigation into legal aid reform. “In the U.K., people pay around $60 per capita in taxes to fund legal aid.”
The United Kingdom sets aside over $3 billion annually to provide a comprehensive legal aid service, which includes legal aid walk-in clinics, as well as covering the hourly fees of lawyers who represent those from poorer backgrounds in both civil and criminal cases. In Canada, over $500 million is put toward legal assistance for the economically disadvantagedeach year, while Germany allocates $570 million
The European Court of Human Rights specifies that to ensure fair hearings for all, if a person has not sufficient means to pay for legal assistance, they are to be given it free when “the interests of justice so require.”
But this kind of commitment to providing access to legal aid continues to evade Lebanon, where funding and legal education issues plague the judicial system. With no government-funded legal aid system in place, the responsibility of ensuring that everyone has equal representation in court rests entirely on Bar Associations, and a sparse number of specialist NGOs.
This lack of funding means that lawyers are only paid $200 per legal aid case. Considering that criminal cases can last up to three or four years, this fee is “barely sufficient to cover the cost of photocopying the case’s file and transportation fees,” says lawyer Paul Morcos.
Throughout the E.U. and the U.S., lawyers on legal aid cases are paid specialist hourly rates by the government for as long as the case runs. Without such a system, the financial incentive to devote time to legal aid cases is all but removed for Lebanese lawyers.
Morcos, who also heads Justicia, an NGO that focuses on issues of legal reform, says that many people just don’t have access to the legal system.
“The general economic vulnerability in Lebanon, the lack of confidence in the court system and judicial independence, in addition to the high court fees, and the lack of satisfactory legal representation in civil and criminal cases, make a considerable part of the Lebanese population unable to access the legal system” he says. “There is a pressing need for the justice system in Lebanon to improve delivery of justice-sector services to the poor, which still falls short of the desired standard.”
Mohana Ishak, a lawyer with Association de Justice et Misericorde, which offers legal counseling and assistance to those in prison, agrees that insufficient funding for legal aid makes it unlikely that pro bono cases will be treated the same as those with paying clients.
“The follow-up with cases is very slow and often not there at all. Lawyers don’t really work on the cases as they get nothing out of it so it’s not worth their while,” she says, “especially if there are additional expenses needed for the case, such as an interpreter or a forensic doctor. Sometimes the case will just have to stop if the lawyer can’t cover the expenses themselves. The quality is not good; the whole system is not good.”
Karam acknowledges this lack of funding and resources remains an obstacle for the Bar Association in its distribution of legal aid services.
“Because judges are busy and the lawyers are overbooked, and also because of the small budget for cases where a translator is needed for instance, the cases can take a long time,” he says. “And when justice is delayed, justice is denied.”
In theory, anyone who cannot afford their own legal defense in a criminal case is entitled to ask the judge to supply them with a lawyer through the Bar Association, and judges are required by law to ask everyone if they need legal assistance.
But Ghida Frangieh, a legal aid lawyer with the organization, Frontiers-Ruwad, says this doesn’t happen in practice.
“One of the major problems is those who are being charged with less-serious crimes, where the sentence would be less than three years, don’t automatically get legal aid,” she says. “Very few people are aware of their eligibility for legal aid, especially those in prison pretrial. You have to make a request and it is very rare for a judge to ask you.”
But many of those from poorer backgrounds have little or no knowledge of their legal entitlements at all.
“What we don’t have, which we really need, is legal aid centers for people to come and talk to the lawyer when they need guidance. There is very poor legal education in Lebanon” laments Frangieh.
Morcos echoes the characterization.
“Many Lebanese awaiting trial in prison are unaware of their right to legal aid. Similarly, noncitizens rarely resort to courts due to ignorance of the legal services or the fear of becoming involved in an unfamiliar legal system. But the government still has no real strategy of awareness and empowerment on this matter.”
With the current system under so much strain, lawyers and NGOs bemoan the lack of government support for the legal aid process.
Morcos speaks out against the government’s failure in this regard and calls for the establishment of a “national legal aid program, and assistance in funding the Beirut and Tripoli Bar Association’s legal aid system,” as well as advocating a state-run legal aid system to enhance the civil society’s efforts.
The sentiment is echoed by Ishak. “The government could play a major role, if legal aid was considered in their budget, but it is just not on their agenda,” she says.
While new protocols and evaluation programs to record legal aid cases and improve standards will be implemented by the Bar Association over the coming year, Morcos worries the problems are too deeply entrenched in the system.
“The Bar Associations in Lebanon cannot certainly fix by themselves the legal aid problems radically, but they are doing remarkable efforts given the fact that the government is inert regarding this subject,” he says.
BEIRUT: If you’ve ever watched an American crime drama, you’ve probably heard this: “If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you.”
Legal aid is a vital component of democracy, as it ensures that those who do not have financial means are still treated fairly by the justice system. But the legal aid system in Lebanon is in a “real crisis” according to experts and lawyers, as well as a recent report by the World Bank.
“In Lebanon we pay nothing. The government gives no financial support at all toward helping people access justice,” says Joe Karam, a lawyer with the Beirut Bar Association who led a recent investigation into legal aid reform. “In the U.K., people pay around $60 per capita in taxes to fund legal aid.”
The United Kingdom sets aside over $3 billion annually to provide a comprehensive legal aid service, which includes legal aid walk-in clinics, as well as covering the hourly fees of lawyers who represent those from poorer backgrounds in both civil and criminal cases. In Canada, over $500 million is put toward legal assistance for the economically disadvantagedeach year, while Germany allocates $570 million
The European Court of Human Rights specifies that to ensure fair hearings for all, if a person has not sufficient means to pay for legal assistance, they are to be given it free when “the interests of justice so require.”
But this kind of commitment to providing access to legal aid continues to evade Lebanon, where funding and legal education issues plague the judicial system. With no government-funded legal aid system in place, the responsibility of ensuring that everyone has equal representation in court rests entirely on Bar Associations, and a sparse number of specialist NGOs.
This lack of funding means that lawyers are only paid $200 per legal aid case. Considering that criminal cases can last up to three or four years, this fee is “barely sufficient to cover the cost of photocopying the case’s file and transportation fees,” says lawyer Paul Morcos.
Throughout the E.U. and the U.S., lawyers on legal aid cases are paid specialist hourly rates by the government for as long as the case runs. Without such a system, the financial incentive to devote time to legal aid cases is all but removed for Lebanese lawyers.
Morcos, who also heads Justicia, an NGO that focuses on issues of legal reform, says that many people just don’t have access to the legal system.
“The general economic vulnerability in Lebanon, the lack of confidence in the court system and judicial independence, in addition to the high court fees, and the lack of satisfactory legal representation in civil and criminal cases, make a considerable part of the Lebanese population unable to access the legal system” he says. “There is a pressing need for the justice system in Lebanon to improve delivery of justice-sector services to the poor, which still falls short of the desired standard.”
Mohana Ishak, a lawyer with Association de Justice et Misericorde, which offers legal counseling and assistance to those in prison, agrees that insufficient funding for legal aid makes it unlikely that pro bono cases will be treated the same as those with paying clients.
“The follow-up with cases is very slow and often not there at all. Lawyers don’t really work on the cases as they get nothing out of it so it’s not worth their while,” she says, “especially if there are additional expenses needed for the case, such as an interpreter or a forensic doctor. Sometimes the case will just have to stop if the lawyer can’t cover the expenses themselves. The quality is not good; the whole system is not good.”
Karam acknowledges this lack of funding and resources remains an obstacle for the Bar Association in its distribution of legal aid services.
“Because judges are busy and the lawyers are overbooked, and also because of the small budget for cases where a translator is needed for instance, the cases can take a long time,” he says. “And when justice is delayed, justice is denied.”
In theory, anyone who cannot afford their own legal defense in a criminal case is entitled to ask the judge to supply them with a lawyer through the Bar Association, and judges are required by law to ask everyone if they need legal assistance.
But Ghida Frangieh, a legal aid lawyer with the organization, Frontiers-Ruwad, says this doesn’t happen in practice.
“One of the major problems is those who are being charged with less-serious crimes, where the sentence would be less than three years, don’t automatically get legal aid,” she says. “Very few people are aware of their eligibility for legal aid, especially those in prison pretrial. You have to make a request and it is very rare for a judge to ask you.”
But many of those from poorer backgrounds have little or no knowledge of their legal entitlements at all.
“What we don’t have, which we really need, is legal aid centers for people to come and talk to the lawyer when they need guidance. There is very poor legal education in Lebanon” laments Frangieh.
Morcos echoes the characterization.
“Many Lebanese awaiting trial in prison are unaware of their right to legal aid. Similarly, noncitizens rarely resort to courts due to ignorance of the legal services or the fear of becoming involved in an unfamiliar legal system. But the government still has no real strategy of awareness and empowerment on this matter.”
With the current system under so much strain, lawyers and NGOs bemoan the lack of government support for the legal aid process.
Morcos speaks out against the government’s failure in this regard and calls for the establishment of a “national legal aid program, and assistance in funding the Beirut and Tripoli Bar Association’s legal aid system,” as well as advocating a state-run legal aid system to enhance the civil society’s efforts.
The sentiment is echoed by Ishak. “The government could play a major role, if legal aid was considered in their budget, but it is just not on their agenda,” she says.
While new protocols and evaluation programs to record legal aid cases and improve standards will be implemented by the Bar Association over the coming year, Morcos worries the problems are too deeply entrenched in the system.
“The Bar Associations in Lebanon cannot certainly fix by themselves the legal aid problems radically, but they are doing remarkable efforts given the fact that the government is inert regarding this subject,” he says.
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