Battler for the underdog silenced

De-robed and de-wigged lawyer Tevita Vakalalabure may have had his deficiencies which plagued his personal life and impacted on his professional standing but he filled a big gap in our legal system by taking on cases for the lowly underdogs in our society. Cases no other lawyer went out of their way to entertain.
As an officer of the court, Vakalalabure could not bring the legal profession into disrepute whether by personal or professional behaviour.
To his credit while he may have fallen down in his personal life, he generally served his clients well in a professional capacity.
In his submission of 17 September 2009 to the Chief Justice in response to complaints from local lawyer Brian Mason and Justice Weston, Vakalalabure drew attention to the lack of legal representation for defendants and the cost.
To ensure some representation would be available, Vakalalabure had submitted that one course of action might be to install him in the role of Public Defender. Neither Mason nor the Chief Justice considered that Vakalalabure’s submissions concerning access to justice should outweigh the public interest in strictly enforcing the ethical standards lawyers must follow.
That’s accepted, however, this writer has expressed concern in the past over the lack of legal representation for young defendants appearing in court. They lack the financial resources and know how to defend themselves, they do not know their rights or of the existence of legal aid. One lawyer commented he did not take such cases because the legal aid budget was limited.
In response to Vakalalabure’s submissions, the Chief Justice in his Determination of 19 November 2009 says further, quote; “access to justice is imperiled not only by the insufficient supply of legal services, but also by the failure of practicing lawyers to act according to the interests of justice and to the requirements of a functioning justice system.”
The question now is, who goes in to bat for the underdog? One well known lawyer will not consider looking at a case unless a client puts up $5,000 first. How does a 16 year old defendant with no income afford, that?
The Chief Justice has spoken well about the factors affecting access to justice but will the law society or the government take note?
One local lawyer told the Times on Friday he has handled mainly pro bono (free of charge) cases and would like to see the law society take up the issue of affordable representation. At present he says “affordability” determines access to legal services and lawyers need to provide some service on a pro bono basis to assist those in society who have no or little income.

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