Informal Legal Actors

• In Event: Policy Panel: Legal Services for the Indigent – Local Governance

Abstract

In many small towns and rural places the criminal prosecution is administered by part-time legal actors. Judges, assigned council, and even prosecutors are only part-time legal actors, or are borrowed from other jurisdictions when needed. Often, these men and women have fulltime employment outside of the justice system in fields unrelated to the justice system or government. These men in women, who serve their communities, face obstacles in many domains. The representation of indigent defendants is challenged by system with insufficient resources to professionally adjudicate criminal cases. The paper presented examines the tensions of the administration of justice in informal justice systems.

Author

• Valerie West, John Jay College of Criminal Justice