Access to criminal justice

At a time when the legal aid system is facing a major overhaul, this book draws attention to the potential and limits of legal aid for achieving criminal justice for defendants. In bringing together 16 experienced writers and researchers who are prominent in this field, it takes the readerbeyond the hitherto narrow discussion over legal aid, and demonstrates its importance in defending liberty and achieving justice. By drawing on empirical research findings and socio-legal analysis, the authors explore the reasons why legally-aided lawyers have failed, by and large, to turn thetheories that underlie legal aid into a practical reality. The book also shows that legal aid can at least be used to ameliorate the injustice of the criminal process itself, however, to do so the potential for criminal justice within the existing system needs to be exploited to the full.