One of the major themes in this course is the importance of fairness in criminal justice. In this assignment, you will engage with the following CBC story by Kathleen Harris, available on D2L and the web: ‘Supreme Court chief justice says legal aid ‘essential’ to fair justice system’ (June 20, 2019). Referring to this story, and drawing on the Wortley (2003) course reading, answer the following question: “why is legal aid essential to ensuring the justice system is fair and efficient for all”?
In your essay, you should construct an argument which integrates the following:
1) the societal costs associated with cutting legal aid – specifically, which groups of individuals are most likely to be disadvantaged by these cuts?
2) provide 1-2 concrete examples of how these groups will be disadvantaged by the cuts to legal aid? Choose examples related to the impacts of these cuts at the pre-trial stage or the trial stage or the sentencing stage of the court process.
additional references (if any) to be included at end of document
