What Is Legal Aid Service? By Sky Joe At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

Legal aid service is essentially the act of providing free legal assistance and in certain cases court representation as well, to people in the low income range who are unable to pay for any legal charges and living within a specified area. As part of the government's efforts, the Legal Aid Society have been ensuring that legal aid service is being slowly incorporated in every town, city, and state.

The majority of these legal aid service providers aim to serve as many clients as possible as they are mainly from non-profit organizations and are composed of a pool of talented lawyers who are willing to offer their services readily.

There are mainly two common types of legal aid services available: Civil/Family legal aid and Criminal legal aid.

Civil/family legal aid is available for many types of private disputes that will, or might, go to court. These include the following:

1) matrimonial and relationship property problems
2) problems to do with care of children
3) care and protection orders for children and young people
4) adoption
5) paternity
6) (mental health) compulsory treatment orders
7) recovering a debt
8) breach of contract (for example, hire purchase)
9) defamation
10) bankruptcy or insolvency

However, civil legal aid does not offers help for the following :

1) divorce ("dissolution of marriage")
2) the Disputes Tribunal
3) mediation in some cases
4) for things that don’t involve a problem that could go to court (for example, getting a will drawn up)
5) immigration matters (except for refugee matters)
6) companies or groups of people (except in some cases)

Criminal legal aid is available for criminal offences that will usually go to court.Anyone charged with or convicted of an offence can apply. In addition, anyone appearing before the Parole Board can also apply for this legal aid. These include the following:

1) murder or manslaughter
2) assault on others
3) possession of drugs
4) drunk-driving
5) theft
6) fraud
7) arson
8) possession of dangerous weapons
9) shoplifting
10) molesting, rape and other sexual offences

In addition, there are many places where you can find legal aid services. For instance, you can choose to search the government listings or use the yellow pages. For faster response, you can check out the services on the internet. If you have been charged with an offence and can't afford a lawyer, it is recommended that you apply for the legal aid services as soon as possible.

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