Date of Award
Spring 2019
Document Type
Honors Thesis
Department/Major
Criminal Justice
First Advisor
Thomas Horton
Second Advisor
Dr. Zoli Filotas
Third Advisor
Dr. Richard Braunstein
Keywords
Indigent Legal Representation, United States, European Union, Public Defender, Legal Aid
Abstract
Criminal justice systems across the globe are faced with multifaceted monetary limitations. The European Union and United States have similar overarching provisions ensuring that indigent defendants are guaranteed the right to counsel in legal proceedings with the possibility of infringing on their liberties. On the whole, they leave the decisions pertaining to each jurisdictions’ system up to the individual governments. This practice allows for differing systems, quality, and problems. The differences between the individual countries in the EU and in the states in America are not as vast as initially believed; therefore, the problems pertaining to indigent representation affect more than just the poor minorities in the United States. The European Union’s Legal Aid systems fail to have the complex legal framework that the United States Public Defender Systems seem to have; however, the problems in the United States persist nevertheless due to structural issues and extreme lack of consideration for funding services for the poor.
Recommended Citation
Wilson, Sydney, "International Inequality or American Atrocity?: A Comparative Investigation of Indigent Legal Representation in the United States and the European Union" (2019). Honors Thesis. 70.
https://red.library.usd.edu/honors-thesis/70