حقُ المُتهم في المساعدةِ القانونيَّة وفقاً للتَّشريعاتِ الجنائيَّة – الدكتور:  لورنس سعيد الحوامدة

 

The Right of the Accused to Legal Aid under Criminal Legislations

حقُ المُتهم في المساعدةِ القانونيَّة وفقاً للتَّشريعاتِ الجنائيَّة

الدكتور:  لورنس سعيد الحوامدة

أستاذ القانون الجنائي

جامعة طيبة  كلية الحقوق – قسم القانون العام – المملكة العربية السعودية

 

لتحميل الإصدار كاملا

https://www.droitetentreprise.com/%d9%85%d8%ac%d9%84%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%82%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%88%d9%86-%d9%88%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a7%d8%b9%d9%85%d8%a7%d9%84-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%af%d9%88%d9%84%d9%8a%d8%a9/

 

 

مُلخَّص باللغة العربيَّة

تُعدُّ المساعدة القانونيَّة نظامٌ قانونيٌّ يستهدف مساعدة المتهمين غير القادرين على دفع رسوم وأتعاب المحاماة انسجاماً مع كفالة حق المتهم في الدفاع عن نفسه، وحقه في توكيل محامٍ وفقاً للاتفاقيات والمعاهدات الدَّوليَّة، وقد انتهت الدراسة بالعديدِ مِنَ التوصيات يمكن أنْ تساهم في إثراء حقل العلو م والمعرفة القانونيَّة، ومنها ضرورة أنْ يستحدث المُشرِّعين القطري والمصري نظاماً خاصاً يُعالج كلّ المسائل ذات الصلة بالمساعدة القانونيَّة والقضائيَّة بدلاً مِنْ وجودها مبعثرة في ثنايا القوانين.

الكلمات المفتاحيَّة: المساعدة القانونيَّة، المحاكم، النيابة العامة، المتهم، المساعدة القضائيَّة.

Abstract

International legislation and treaties guarantee the right of all individuals to access justice through the provision of legal assistance. This assistance is known as “legal Aid”. Legal Aid provides Aid to poor and vulnerable people with access to legal aid services, including legal consultations and legal representations. Due to the novelty of legal assistance in the Arab world and its confinement to some criteria, this study aimed to examine Legal Aid System in Arab systems by comparing this subject in each of the Jordanian, Qatari and Egyptian legislations. The study’s results may enrich the field of science and legal literature. The study concluded that addressing the legal aid system in both Qatari and Egyptian legislation is necessary by creating a system dealing with all legal and judicial aid issues.

Keywords:  Legal Aid, courts, public prosecution, accused, judicial assistance.

  

 

 

 

Introduction

The concept of legal Aid dates back to the fourteenth century when the private bar was responsible for devoting some time to vulnerable groups who could not afford court services (Dana, H, 2015, 275‏). Legal Aid refers to providing legal services to individuals who cannot afford them by assigning an attorney to represent them before the courts and the Public Prosecution Office or offering advice, counselling, assistance with paperwork and other legal documents (Daigle, L. E., Harris, M. N., & Mummert, S. J, 2019, 26-46.). Several delivery models for legal Aid have emerged, including pro bono services, duty lawyers, and community legal clinics, mainly offered to eligible individuals (Qater International e-court, www.qicdrc.gov) .

 Given its significance in safeguarding the right of the accused to a fair trial, the right to counsel and ensuring public trust in the criminal justice process, legal Aid was recognised in many international instruments (Flynn, A., Hodgson, J., McCulloch, J., & Naylor, B, 2016, 207.). For instance, The United Nations (U.N.) General Assembly adopted the first global instrument dedicated to the provision of legal Aid in 2012:

 

        Recognising that legal Aid is an essential element of a functioning criminal justice system that is based on the rule of law, a foundation for the enjoyment of other rights, including the right to a fair trial, and an important safeguard that ensures fundamental fairness and public trust in the criminal justice process, [s]tates should guarantee the right to legal Aid in their national legal systems at the highest possible level, including, where applicable, in the constitution (United Nations Principles and Guidelines on Access to Legal Aid in Criminal Justice Systems, , 2012, para 14).

In line with international conventions and treaties that guarantee the right of the individual to access justice, a number of Arab countries have implemented the legal aid system as one of the rights of the accused to access legal and judicial services such as representation before the court and the Public Prosecution. Therefore, it enacted special legislation that addresses all legal aid issues in a separate system or within the framework of the criminal procedure laws.

 

For instance, Jordan issued the first legal Aid system, No. 119 of 2018, after defining legal Aid in Article (208) of the Jordanian Code of Criminal Procedure No. 9 of 1961 and its amendments as

legal representation before the Public Prosecution Departments, regular courts, and the High Criminal Court, per the provisions of the legislation in force.

In Qatar, the International Court has launched a dispute settlement centre that affords assistance to litigants with limited financial means with civil and commercial disputes, regulatory appeals or other legal issues that fall within the jurisdiction of the Qatar International Court. This centre was established due to the Coronavirus and the resulting damage to some litigants due to their inability to pay lawyer’s fees. In addition, Qatari legislators have launched a legal aid system. For instance, Article 65 of the Qatari Criminal Procedures Law, issued by Emiri Decree No. 3 of 1989, authorised the court the right to assign an attorney to defend the accused in criminal cases punishable by death or imprisonment for a period exceeding seven years if the accused does not nominate anyone; provided that the court decides appropriate fees, and pays what is allocated for this purpose from the financial appropriation. Law No. (23) of 2006 also stipulated the accused’s right to legal Aid.

 

However, the Egyptian legislator, like the Qatari legislator, did not enact a particular legal aid system, as did the Jordanian legislator, who introduced the legal aid system No. 119 of 2018, which was issued under Article (208) of the Jordanian Code of Criminal Procedure No. 9 of 1961 and its amendments. The system contained eleven articles, and a special directorate was established in the Jordanian Ministry of Justice to handle all legal aid requests. It was noted that texts related to legal Aid in criminal procedure laws and the law governing the legal profession had been referred to by Qatari and Egyptian legislators.

 

This study will analyse and discuss three axes. The first axis is dedicated to clarifying the concept of legal Aid; the second will discuss the conditions and controls for granting legal Aid to the accused person per criminal legislation in Egypt, Jordan, and Qatar. Finally, the third axis deals with the position of international agreements on the legal aid system.

 

Problem Statement:

Generally, all individuals have the right to access justice by ensuring equality before the law, the right to a fair trial and to counsel. But regrettably, some individuals cannot afford legal representation due to their low income. In Jordan, for example, approximately 47,000 Jordanians involved in the justice system cannot afford an attorney every year. Furthermore, 96% of those who violate the law are low-income, and 83% of defendants go unrepresented during the investigation and pretrial stages. However, in court, this figure drops to 68% (Jordan’s Justice Center for Legal Aid in a summary of the justice system’s reality, 2019, 3-4).

This dramatic scenario calls for shedding light on the legal aid system (Al-Zoubi, M 2020, 2224-3240), which is a novel legal system in the Arab world; besides, researchers have not addressed this matter adequately due to a lack of jurisprudential references and the lack of development of legal systems that address all issues related to legal Aid. In this context, the purpose of this study was to discuss this system in Egyptian, Jordanian, and Qatari legislation and to highlight its positive features and deficiencies by answering the following questions:

●                  What does legal Aid mean in jurisprudence and legislation?

●                  Have the Jordanian, Egyptian, and Qatari legislators introduced a legal system concerned with legal Aid, which grants the accused the right to counsel with no charge if he cannot afford them?

●                  Is there any evidence of the successful implementation of the legal aid system in some countries?

●                  Do international conventions and treaties guarantee the accused person the right to legal Aid?

●                  Were judicial decisions issued in Jordan, Egypt, and Qatar granting the accused the right to legal Aid or not?

 

 Approach:

This research followed a comparative, analytical, and inductive approach to legal aid legislation in Jordan, Egypt, and Qatar by examining the regulatory texts, scientifically analysing them, and then conducting a comparison between these legislations to determine the benefits and drawbacks, if any, and making recommendations, especially since the subject of legal Aid is considered one of the emerging topics and has not extensively been discussed by researchers.

 

Objectives:

The current study aims to:

●                  Clarifying the concept of legal Aid in legislation and jurisprudence.

●                  Examining some of the Arab criminal legislation governing legal Aid.

●                  Evaluating the conditions and controls of legal Aid in Jordanian, Qatari and Egyptian legislation.

●                  Citing the judicial decisions related to legal Aid.

●                  Highlight the Jordanian legislator’s role in establishing an independent legal aid system ( No. 119 of 2018).

Study Plan:

●                  Chapter One: What is Legal Aid?

Section 1: Conceptual Framework of legal Aid in legislation and jurisprudence.

●                  Chapter Two: Controls of legal Aid to the accused in criminal legislation.

Section 1: Conditions for legal Aid to the accused in criminal legislation.

1.                                    Legal Aid in Jordanian legislation.

2.                                    Legal Aid in Qatari legislation.

3.                                    Legal Aid in Egyptian legislation.

            Section 2: Legal Aid under international treaties.

 

Chapter One

Legal Aid

 

Legal Aid is one of the novel legal systems in the Arab judicial system. Given the importance of this system in protecting the accused person’s right to justice, some Arab countries, in line with the international conventions, have developed particular statutes pertaining to the legal aid system. Among these regulations is the Jordanian Legal Aid Regulations for the year 2018, issued after the Jordanian legislator referred to legal Aid in Article 208 of the Jordanian Code of Criminal Procedure No. 9 of 1961.

 

The Conceptual Framework

Legislations encompassed diverse definitions of legal Aid. For example, the Jordanian legislator described legal Aid in Article (2) of the Jordanian Legal Aid Regulation No. 119 of 2018 as

The legal representation before the public prosecution departments, statutory courts, and the Grand Criminal Court under the provisions of the legislation in force.

 In Qatar, the guiding principles of legal Aid of the International Court defined in Article 1 legal aid as:

Obtaining free legal services in matters and lawsuits that are within the jurisdiction of the judicial court, including guidance services and legal advice before the stage of the legal dispute or the provision of legal services after the legal dispute, and starts from He filed the case and registered its newspaper in the court registry until the final judgment in the case is issued (Qatar International Court).

In Egypt, Law No. 17 of 1983 regulating the legal profession and its amendments defines legal Aid in Article (93) as

Judicial assistance is provided to incapable citizens by union councils in the governorates and within the jurisdiction of each of them, including filing lawsuits, Attending Public Prosecution investigations, giving legal advice, and drafting contracts

Legal Aid has also been described as “a human right that the state guarantees, as it is considered the best guarantee for the right to access the justice system and the right to defence, and to seek the assistance of a lawyer, based on the principle of equality for all, regardless of their financial capabilities, social standing, or any other basis for discrimination. ” It was also defined as “providing free service in return for the time it takes for legal services and training, and providing legal advice and support before the litigation stage and after the judicial dispute before the competent court” (Saddam Abu Azzam, 2015).

It was also described as “Legislators approved measures for the benefit of litigants whose financial situation does not allow them to pay the lawsuit’s expenses, as they are able, under the legal aid system, to file this lawsuit, proceed with it, complete all procedures and investigate it until the verdict is issued and notified, and challenge it when necessary through legal means and measures for its implementation” (Al-Abdalawi, Y, 1998, 283).

Based on those as mentioned earlier, we conclude that Legal Aid is a judicial and advisory service provided to individuals and entities who are unable to pay the costs of litigation and judicial litigation before filing a lawsuit or after judicial litigation in a way that guarantees individuals and entities the right to defend themselves following international treaties and covenants. In addition, however, it can be argued that:

1.                                    The previous definitions limited legal Aid to legal representation and counsel before the courts and the Public Prosecution and ignored the legal representation police interrogations (Instructions for the Organisation of Legal Aid, 2016, 1533 of the Official Gazette).

2.                                    The legislation was limited to providing legal Aid only to individuals without referring to legal entities or persons such as public and private institutions, which sometimes have the right to include them in legal services following legal controls, including providing legal advice. Similar to some Arab legislations, such as the Moroccan Royal Decree No. 65-514 issued on Rajab 17, 1386 AH, as a law related to legal Aid, and the decree stipulated in Chapter (1) of it the following: “The granting of legal aid in all courts, whatever the case, is to persons and public institutions or public interest and private associations enjoying civil personality, Moroccan nationality, etc….”

3.                                    The Jordanian legislator limited legal Aid in Article (2) of the Jordanian Legal Aid Law for the year 2018 to defendants before regular courts, the High Criminal Court, and Public Prosecution departments. But, fruitlessly, he doesn’t refer to the accused’s right to legal Aid before the special courts in Jordan as a security court. As a result, state and police courts deprive some of the accused who cannot defend themselves before these courts.

4.                                    The Jordanian legislator erred when he limited legal Aid, in Article (2) of the Jordanian Legal Aid Law for 2018, to defendants before regular courts, the High Criminal Court, and public prosecution departments without stipulating the right of the accused to legal aid before Jordan’s special courts, such as State security and police courts. This regrettably deprives some of the defendants who are financially unable to defend themselves in these courts.

5.                                    Egyptian and Qatari legislation did not include a separate legal system for legal Aid, as Jordanian legislation did. As a result, we derived a definition of legal Aid in Egyptian and Qatari legislation from legal aid-related texts.

 

Chapter Two

Legal aid criteria in criminal legislation

The procedures for providing legal and judicial services to the accused are governed by legislation and laws. For example, some stipulated that legal Aid be provided based on the crime committed by the accused and its legal classification (felony or misdemeanour). In contrast, others required that the accused be poor and unable to pay the costs and fees of judicial litigation. We will discuss the legal aid criteria in criminal legislation and legal in international treaties in the sections below.

Section 1: Criteria for providing legal Aid in criminal legislation

The conditions for providing legal Aid to the accused varied in criminal legislation, so these conditions will be discussed as conditions in the Jordanian, Qatari, and Egyptian legislation, as follows:

A.                                  Legal Aid in Jordanian legislation

The Jordanian Code of Criminal Procedure and the Law of the Jordanian Bar Association both address issues concerning the provision of judicial and legal services. After the Jordanian Code of Criminal Procedure No. 9 of 1961 A.D. was amended to include the controls referred to in Article 208/1/2/3/4/ 5, a particular system known as Legal Aid Law No. 119 of 2018 was enacted.

First: Eligibility criteria for legal Aid in the Jordanian legislation

Eligibility criteria for providing legal assistance in Jordanian legislation include the following:

1.                                    That the crime committed by the indicted person is a felony punishable by death, life imprisonment with hard labour or life detention for ten years or more.

2.                                    The public prosecutor or the competent court may, at any stage of the criminal case, and after referring the request to the Minister of Justice and in coordination with the Bar Association, provide legal Aid to the indicted person in felonies punishable by temporary labour for a period less than ten years^[1].

3.                                    The family’s total monthly income of the indicted person seeking legal Aid should not exceed (400) dinars.

4.                                    The person seeking assistance has no immovable property except the house of residence or movable property except the monthly income.

5.                                    That the indicted person has no criminal precedents by a final court ruling for a felony or misdemeanour^[2].

The Jordanian legislator prioritises the categories that can receive legal assistance, as follows: juveniles, seniors, women, persons with disabilities, and then any other categories specified by the minister^[3]. Legal aid requests are submitted according to a form approved by the Minister of Justice and are referred to the Legal Aid Directorate at the Jordanian Ministry of Justice^[4].

We can argue that Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code grants the criminally accused the right to state-appointed legal counsel in crimes punishable by life imprisonment or the death penalty, but only for a limited category and crimes punishable by imprisonment for ten years or more. Thus, the restrictive eligibility criteria imply that defendants benefiting account for very few cases annually^[5].

Additionally, the eligibility criteria, which restricted legal Aid only to the accused in criminal offences, deprived the offenders of minor felonies of their right to access justice. Without legal assistance, they may not be able to appoint a lawyer and be represented before the court, denoting that these criteria are still far from ensuring accurate access to justice, leaving minor felonies and special courts such as religious and special courts out of the coverage. This is a violation of international covenants and treaties that guarantee the right of the accused to judicial and legal service regardless of the crime, especially since the right to defence and the consultation of a lawyer is one of the fundamental human rights guaranteed by national and international laws.

It is noteworthy that, in one of its decisions, the Jordanian Court of Cassation ruled that “the Major Criminal Court erred when it did not summon a lawyer to plead for the accused, as the charge ascribed required, and that this deprived the accused of presenting his defences and evidence that would change the ruling issued against him, due to his ignorance of the law.^[6]”

In light of the preceding, we note that the Jordanian legislator preceded the Qatari and Egyptian legislators by establishing a unique system that deals with all issues related to legal and judicial services provided to litigants. In contrast, the Qatari and Egyptian legislators dealt with legal aid issues in the texts of procedural laws and the law regulating the legal profession.

B.                                   Legal Aid in Qatari legislation

The texts regulating legal Aid in Qatari legislation came within different laws. The Qatari legislator regulated legal Aid for the accused in the Qatari Law No. 23 of 2006. He emphasised the formation of a committee consisting of the President of the Court of First Instance and two court judges called the “Legal Aid Committee.” This committee has the right to delegate an attorney to defend the accused according to the following criteria:

1.                                    If either of the litigants is insolvent or unable to pay attorney fees, provided that such litigant is likely to prevail in action;

2.                                    If there is a court order to relieve such litigant from the litigation expenses, in whole or in part;

3.                                    If some lawyers refused to accept representation in action;

4.                                    If the lawyer died or encountered any impediment hindering him from practising the profession, in general, in all cases where the lawyer can’t practice the profession and proceed with the legal proceedings and actions of his clients.

5.                                    All other cases where the law requires the retention of a lawyer to defend a suspect or a minor who didn’t retain a lawyer^[7].

The Qatari legislator did not leave the accused without legal assistance coverage before the Public Prosecution but instead authorised the Public Prosecution during the investigation stage to appoint a lawyer to defend the accused and obligated him to provide legal assistance to the accused. The assigned lawyer was not permitted to withdraw from a case except for reasons acceptable to the entity which appointed him. If the lawyer refuses to provide legal Aid without an acceptable excuse or commits negligence while performing his duties, he shall be subject to disciplinary measures^[8]. However, Article 64 of Law No. 23 of 2006, Promulgating the Legal Profession Law, specifies that: “A lawyer appointed to represent an insolvent party shall defend such party free of charge. However, the court shall assess his fees and oblige the losing party to pay such fees. The said lawyer may also recourse to the insolvent party for the fees if such litigant became solvent”^[9].

The provisions of the Qatari Criminal Procedure Law No. 3 of 1989 in Article 65 thereof grant the court the right to appoint a lawyer to defend the accused. The Qatari legislator has also given the court the right to assign, in cases of felonies punishable by death or imprisonment for a period exceeding seven years, a lawyer if the accused does not appoint anyone, provided that the court decides the fees. Or the court shall pay from the financial credit assigned for this purpose by the court’s budget.

The Qatari legislator, we believe, followed in the footsteps of the Jordanian legislator. Where the accused is granted the right to legal assistance in criminal offences punishable by death or crimes punishable by a sentence of more than seven years, and this means depriving the rest of the defendants in misdemeanour crimes of their right to legal assistance and appointing a lawyer to defend them, especially since a significant number of the accused cannot afford the expenses Attorney’s fees in misdemeanour crimes.

It is worth noting that some Arab legislations have granted the right of legal assistance to the accused in both criminal and delinquent crimes, including the Iraqi constitution, which stipulates in Article (11/19) of it the following:

 The court shall appoint a lawyer at the expense of the state for an accused of a felony or misdemeanour who does not have a defence lawyer^[10]

 In addition, the Qatari legislator obligated the convict to pay the expenses of attorney’s fees. The original is that these fees are paid from a special fund affiliated with the Ministry of Justice that is allocated to pay the legal expenses and fees of the assigned attorney, as the Jordanian legislator did and stipulated in the Jordanian Legal Aid Regulation No. 119 of 2018.

C.                                   Legal Aid in Qatari legislation

Unlike the Jordanian legislator, the Egyptian legislator did not address all legal aid issues in a separate law but instead left it within the framework of other laws. This made it difficult for the judiciary to apply the provisions governing legal Aid and grant it to the accused when it is required to appoint a lawyer to defend him.

The Egyptian legislator has required the lawyer to provide legal and judicial assistance to citizens who cannot afford lawyers and, in other cases, stipulated by the law. Furthermore, the law pays a premium on the quality of legal assistance a court-appointed lawyer provides. It requires that the lawyer, whether appointed by the court or retained by the defendant, represent the defendant with diligence. The lawyer may decline representation only if the court permits it and only after handing over-representation^[11] to another lawyer^[12].

The Egyptian legislature has also obligated the provision of legal Aid to the accused in offences and misdemeanours. In misdemeanours crimes, the accused must appear in person during the trial procedures and have a lawyer to defend him. The court must assign a lawyer to represent him if he does not have a lawyer^[13].

However, Article 124 prohibits interrogating the accused without a lawyer. It further states that the prosecutor must appoint a lawyer if the accused cannot afford one. Provided that fees are estimated after referring to the fee estimation table issued by the Minister of Justice and after taking the Council of the General Bar Association^[14]. Under the Egyptian Judicial Fees Law, the accused can request an exemption if he cannot afford court service entirely or partially^[15].

For example, the Egyptian Court of Cassation ruled in one of its decisions, ‘The legislator did not set a specific criterion to determine what is considered to be among the requirements of the right of defence and legal assistance and what is not, but rather left the matter of estimating that to the subject judge as he deems appropriate^[16].’

We conclude from the preceding that the Egyptian legislator prioritised legal Aid to the accused in both misdemeanour and criminal felonies, unlike the Jordanian and Qatari legislators. This is consistent with international conventions and treaties guaranteeing the accused’s right to a defence^[17]. However, the Egyptian legislator did not address all of the texts governing legal Aid in independent legislation, which has led to deficiencies that must be addressed.

 

Section Two: Legal Aid under international agreements

International conventions and treaties guarantee the accused’s right before the court and his right to counsel regardless of his financial situation and oblige states to take the necessary measures. Among these treaties is the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which established the Permanent International Criminal Court on July 17, 1998^[18]. Article 67/d of the International Criminal Court has emphasised the accused’s right:

Subject to article 63, paragraph 2, to be present at the trial, to conduct the defence in person or through legal assistance of the accused’s choosing, to be informed, if the accused does not have legal assistance, of this right and to have legal assistance assigned by the court in any case where the interests of justice so require, and without payment, if the accused lacks sufficient means to pay for it.

The International Criminal Court’s statute requires the presence of a lawyer to defend the accused. Because it is one of the guarantees of a public trial, the accused has the right to legal assistance by appointing a lawyer if he cannot pay the legal fees and expenses^[19]. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on December 16, 1966, entered into force in 1967, also guarantees the right of the accused in Article (14/3/d):

To be tried in his presence and to defend himself in person or through legal assistance of his own choosing; to be informed, if he does not have legal assistance, of this right; and to have legal assistance assigned to him, in any case where the interests of justice so require, and without payment by him in any such case if he does not have sufficient means to pay for it.’

In the European context, Article 6( 3/c) of the

To defend himself in person or through legal assistance of his own choosing or, if he has not had sufficient means to pay for legal assistance, to be given it free when the interests of justice so require.

In the Arab region context, the Arab Charter for Human Rights, adopted by the Sixteenth Arab Summit in Tunis on May 23, 2004, guarantees the accused’s right to legal assistance. Article 13/1 states:

Everybody has the right to a fair trial in which sufficient guarantees are ensured, conducted by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law, in judging the grounds of criminal charges brought against him or determining his rights and obligations. State Parties shall ensure financial Aid to those without the necessary means to pay for legal assistance to enable them to defend their rights.

The researcher believes that international treaties and conventions emphasise the right of the accused to appoint a lawyer to defend him if he cannot pay the legal costs and fees. However, it is argued that these treaties are limited to providing sub-legal judicial assistance to the accused, represented by the provision of legal advice. There is a distinction to be made between legal and judicial assistance. The former is concerned with providing legal advice to everyone, and this stage occurs before investigations and trials begin. The latter is concerned with ensuring the accused’s right to a free defence before the courts and the Public Prosecution. Also, most of the Arab judicial agreements do not stipulate the right of the accused to legal and judicial assistance.

 

Conclusion

Given the modernity of Arab legal systems governing the accused’s right to access legal and judicial aid services, there have been few studies on the subject. As a result, we encountered numerous difficulties in gathering information, explaining and analysing texts. Nevertheless, the study produced a set of findings and recommendations.

Results

1.                                    Legal Aid is one of the modern legal systems at the Arab level.

2.                                    Some Arab regulations regulating legal Aid limited the accused’s right to criminal offences only and did not cover misdemeanour crimes.

3.                                    Some Arab systems guaranteed legal Aid as a right for the accused before the regular courts only and did not include the special courts. This is considered a diminution of the right of the accused to defend himself before the courts of all levels and types.

4.                                    Most international conventions guarantee the accused’s right to judicial rather than legal assistance, which is represented in providing legal advice to people before the stage of investigation and trial.

5.                                    Most of the Arab judicial agreements do not provide for the right of the accused to legal and judicial assistance.

6.                                    The Egyptian, Iraqi and Moroccan legislators guaranteed the accused’s right to judicial assistance in criminal offences and misdemeanours.

7.                                    The Qatari and Egyptian legislators did not introduce a law regulating legal and judicial assistance, similar to what the Jordanian legislator did, which introduced a particular legal aid system No. 119 of 2018.

Recommendations:

1.                                    Advocating both the Egyptian and Qatari legislators to establish an exclusive system that deals with all legal aid issues instead of including them within the criminal procedure laws, the law regulating the legal profession, and the law on judicial fees.

2.                                    Reviewing and amending the text of Article (2) of the Jordanian Legal Aid Law No. 119 of 2018 to include legal Aid to all legal bodies, institutions, and special courts, as some Arab legislation did, including Moroccan Legal Aid Decree No. 65 of 514 issued on 1386 AH.

3.                                    Take the necessary measure to amend the text of Article 3/1/208 of the Jordanian Code of Criminal Procedure No. 9 of 1961 and its amendments and Article 65 of the Qatari Code of Criminal Procedure to grant the accused the right to judicial assistance in misdemeanours as well, as did the Egyptian, Moroccan and Iraqi legislators.

4.                                    Amending international conventions and treaties to include legal assistance in the legal field represented by providing legal advice to individuals rather than limiting it to legal Aid to the accused during the trial and investigation stages.

 

References:

Dana, H. (2015). Legal Aid and Legal Services: An Overview. Maine Law Review, 67(2), 275.‏

Daigle, L. E., Harris, M. N., & Mummert, S. J. (2019). Crime victims and their unmet civil legal needs: Pro bono service provision among private attorneys. Journal of Victimology and Victim Justice, 2(1), 26-46.‏

Flynn, A., Hodgson, J., McCulloch, J., & Naylor, B. (2016). Legal Aid and access to legal representation: redefining the right to a fair trial. Melb. U.L. Rev., 40, 207.‏

United Nations Principles and Guidelines on Access to Legal Aid in Criminal Justice Systems, UN GAOR, 3rd Comm, 67th sess, Agenda Item 103, U.N. Doc A/C.3/67/L.6 (October 3 2012) para 14 (citations omitted).

Jordan’s Justice Center for Legal Aid. (2019).A summary of the justice system’s reality. (2018) < http://www.jcla-org.com/en/publication/it-all-begins-justice> accessed December 26 2019, 3-4

Al-Zoubi, M. (2020). Legal Aid in the Criminal Matters in Jordan. Journal of Law, Policy and Globalization ISSN 2224-3240 (Paper) ISSN 2224-3259 (Online) Vol.93, www.iiste.org.

Abu Azzam, S. (2015). Legal Aid – A Look Towards Organization and Institutionalization, on 3/26/2015 A.D., Attorney Saddam Abu Azzam – See the Ammon News website. www.ammonnews.net.

 

 

Al-Abdalawi, Y. (1998). The mediator in explaining the civil procedure – the private judicial law according to the latest amendment, pg. 283.

Instructions for the Organisation of Legal Aid Provided by the Ministry of Justice (No 1 of 2016) page 1533 of the Official Gazette (No 5387) dated March 16 2016

Access to justice and legal empowerment in Jordan: towards an effective and sustainable legal aid system. (2018). Annex I to Contract ENI 2018/403-786.

Youssef, M. M. (2017). Egypt: Access to the Justice System and Legal Aid. Law Library of Congress, Global Legal Research Center.‏

Kahwaji, A. (2002). International Criminal Law, the most severe international crimes in 2001 A.D., p. 355.

Zakaria Al-Azmi. (2020). a published research paper entitled “Judicial and legal assistance between the text and its effectiveness in Moroccan courts”, Journal of Law and International Business – Hassan I University – Morocco.

Al-Hassan, A. (2020). Aspects of the Objective Criminal Protection of the Right to Defense Before Investigation and Judicial Points – A Comparative Study, p. 343

Al-Dulaimi, F. (2021). Guarantees of the Accused. The Framework of the Statute of the International Criminal Court,” Journal of the College of Law for Legal and Political Sciences, p. 280.

Legislations:

●                  Qatari Criminal Procedure Law No. 3 of 1989.

●                  Qatari Law No. 23 of 2006.

●                  Law No. 17 of 1983. Regulating the legal profession in Egypt and its amendments.

●                  Egyptian Criminal Procedure Law No. 150 of 1950 and its amendments.

●                  The Egyptian Judicial Fees Law No. 90 of 1944.

●                  The Jordanian Code of Criminal Procedure No. 9 of 1961 and its amendments.

●                  Jordanian Legal Aid Regulation No. 119 of 2018.

Moroccan Legal Aid Decree No. 65-514 Issued on Rajab 17, 1386 AH