The impact of criminal legal aid finance reduction on the work of defence lawyers
The impact of criminal legal aid finance reduction on the work of defence lawyers
This thesis investigates the criminal justice system of England and Wales – in particular, the criminal legal aid system: how those who are unable to afford their own defence lawyer are provided with advice and representation. Building on the work of Packer’s criminal justice process models of Due Process and Crime Control; later works critical of Packer’s approach; and Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus, field and capital, it constructs a new and enhanced way of understanding and analysing the values at play in the criminal justice process: the toolbox approach. Using this framework, it analyses the findings from empirical research into how changes to defence lawyer fees impact their work. Drawing on 29 in-depth qualitative interviews with solicitors and barristers of varying levels of experience, it uncovers the impact of criminal legal aid finance on defence lawyer behaviour and how this operates. It also makes findings as to the state and operation of the criminal justice process in broader terms.
Chapter 1 outlines the legal aid system and introduces the research question in detail. Chapter 2 builds on this by analysing how to answer the research question, discussing the research methods and methodology and introducing the role played by criminal justice process models and Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus, field and capital. Chapter 3 considers the literature on criminal justice process models in detail, advancing an argument that criticisms of Packer’s work are useful, but ultimately misplaced. Chapter 4 builds on the foregoing discussion to construct the multi-dimensional analysis tool: the toolbox approach. Chapters 5 and 6 apply this framework to analyse the empirical data and draw conclusions from it about legal aid finance. Finally, in Chapter 7, there are some concluding remarks, which reflect on the overall analysis and consider its implications.
University of Southampton
Thornton, James William Albert
June 2017
Thornton, James William Albert
Gurnham, David
f63e1a54-5924-4fd0-a3f5-521311cee101
Thornton, James William Albert
(2017)
The impact of criminal legal aid finance reduction on the work of defence lawyers.
University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis, 283pp.
Record type:
Thesis
(Doctoral)
Abstract
This thesis investigates the criminal justice system of England and Wales – in particular, the criminal legal aid system: how those who are unable to afford their own defence lawyer are provided with advice and representation. Building on the work of Packer’s criminal justice process models of Due Process and Crime Control; later works critical of Packer’s approach; and Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus, field and capital, it constructs a new and enhanced way of understanding and analysing the values at play in the criminal justice process: the toolbox approach. Using this framework, it analyses the findings from empirical research into how changes to defence lawyer fees impact their work. Drawing on 29 in-depth qualitative interviews with solicitors and barristers of varying levels of experience, it uncovers the impact of criminal legal aid finance on defence lawyer behaviour and how this operates. It also makes findings as to the state and operation of the criminal justice process in broader terms.
Chapter 1 outlines the legal aid system and introduces the research question in detail. Chapter 2 builds on this by analysing how to answer the research question, discussing the research methods and methodology and introducing the role played by criminal justice process models and Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus, field and capital. Chapter 3 considers the literature on criminal justice process models in detail, advancing an argument that criticisms of Packer’s work are useful, but ultimately misplaced. Chapter 4 builds on the foregoing discussion to construct the multi-dimensional analysis tool: the toolbox approach. Chapters 5 and 6 apply this framework to analyse the empirical data and draw conclusions from it about legal aid finance. Finally, in Chapter 7, there are some concluding remarks, which reflect on the overall analysis and consider its implications.
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Final PhD thesis
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Published date: June 2017
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Local EPrints ID: 420763
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/420763
PURE UUID: 2ad40673-f32e-48f1-982a-e1adee82085c
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Date deposited: 15 May 2018 16:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 06:36
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James William Albert Thornton
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