NCJ Number
96755
Journal
Canadian Journal of Criminology Volume: 27 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1985) Pages: 67-81
Date Published
1985
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This article reports on a study of the two major organizational mechanisms used to deliver legal aid in Canada, the judicare method and the public defender method.
Abstract
Cases handled by staff counsel in the public defender office and by private counsel acting for legal aid clients in Burnaby, Vancouver, were monitored over 2 years, and information was collected from a case record form completed by the lawyer handling each case and from official court records. Case information on 1,283 cases, or about 70 percent of the total caseload, was analyzed. Results indicate that the distribution of charged offenses for judicare cases was similar to those for public defender cases. Further, the public defender clients and judicare clients were similar in age, sex, marital status, and education. The clients were overwhelmingly male (85 percent), single (62 percent), and unemployed (76 percent); additionally, they were relatively poorly education (about 50 percent had less than grade l0 education). Analysis indicates that the conviction rates for judicare and public defender cases were similar and that there was a similar mix of stays/withdrawals, guilty pleas, and trials. Additionally, there were no major differences in the fine amounts or jail terms for the two sets of clients. However, convicted public defender clients were incarcerated at a much lower rate (24.5 percent) than judicare clients, but judicare clients received absolute discharges more frequently. Finally, results suggest that the public defender mode might result in fewer terms of incarceration and might therefore be preferred by the client. Two tables and 35 references are included.