How To Represent Yourself In Court

Recent changes to legal aid mean that certain employment, immigration as well as family law cases will no longer be eligible for legal aid. So how do people, especially those who cannot afford to hire a firm or solicitor, acquire justice? In most cases, many individuals are now settling to represent themselves in court. The Bar Council, in response to the increasing number of people who are representing themselves in a trial, decided to release a guide on how people can defend and represent themselves in court. This includes a note that people should not attempt to copy the way lawyers act in TV because “judges hate it”.

So how can people who have no background on the different laws and legal matters defend themselves in court? The first step that they should do would be to seek for independent advice. These individuals can ask for advice from a non-profit law centre like the Citizens Advice Bureau and Advice UK. These law centres can advice individuals on the different steps that they should take in handling their case, or if the case is worth fighting for in the first place.

Many experts also believe that individuals who want to represent themselves should not disregard completely the option of asking help from a lawyer or solicitor. You can also ask help from a solicitor (most will offer a free initial consultation). Many people are under the false pretense that solicitors will advise clients or people who are asking for help to agree on something that is not originally part of their interest. The right lawyer can actually steer you away from making bad decisions regarding your case. Make sure that you approach a solicitor that will remain neutral with your case and someone that will help you make decisions regarding the process of your case.

Turning our children into small geniuses

Britain is now focusing on its most important resource: human capital. It’s a long term investment with incredible return rates but it requires patience, patience and more patience. The British government has set out to change the curriculum for state schools in order to be in line with the best education systems in the world, namely Finland, Hong Kong or Massachusetts.

 

How and why?

Where did this need of change come from? The main reason seems to be that the current curriculum is out dated and doesn’t produce the same intelligent children as other education systems do. But making a five year old start tackling fractions seems a little bit too much if you ask me; it’s like robbing them of their childhood. I am not saying they won’t manage but I ask myself at what cost? The end result is clear, smarter, more creative and more capable individuals which will shape the England of tomorrow. British PM David Cameron states that the new curriculum is “engaging and tough” and I begin to wonder how many future pupils will live make it out ok through this new system and how many will be “left behind”.

Will it be a better system?

From a theoretical aspect it has all the chances to be better. There are all kinds of new studies and the new curriculum has taken advantage of them in order to be efficient and interactive. But all those studies, all those facts and figures mean nothing when you put them against the unwillingness of a 7 year old boy. Bottom line is that until the new system hits the school we won’t know for sure how the children will react. I imagine a pilot project will be launched before in order to test the waters.

It is true that the old system focused very little on creativity which now has been placed high on a pedestal claiming it plays a significant role in any type of job, not only if you are an artist. Leadership skills, problem solving skills and many other skills are thinks relatively new which the current curriculum overlooked or didn’t pay much attention unlike the multinational work environment where these skills are used on a daily basis. It seems to me that the new curriculum might just be custom tailored to match the needs of the giant corporations and that the education system might become a mass robot factory.