Your views on... The legal Aid row

Today Debbie shares with us her views on the Legal Aid row...

Upon reading the news story a few days ago that Legal Aid was the cause of a serious fraud being halted it really brought it home that the changes are affecting our legal system immediately. I completely understand the fact that legal systems are expensive and money is a finite resource and any way we can find to make them less expensive is a bonus but is it really worth it if those people who need cheaper or free access to legal advice are being forced out of the system? I noticed you retweeted a quote the other day from Derek Bok the President of Harvard in 1983 that said "there is far too much law for those who can afford it, and far too little for those who cannot" this indicates to me that this is not a new problem, so why are we just starting to struggle with the effects of this now?

Thanks Debbie for a great post, if you'd like to get If you'd like to take part please email us with 'Your views segment' in the subject header and a short summary about the topic or news story you'd like to write about. Providing that topic has not already been covered we will then reply with further details. 

Your views on... The Oscar Pistorius trial

Today, Jade shares with us her views on the controversial Oscar Pistorius trial. 

"'Who dunnit?' That's usually the phrase on everyone's lips, but this time its 'did he?' or 'didn't he?'. The case of Oscar Pistorius, the man who shot his girlfriend on Valentines Day. The prosecution is arguing it was motivated and he planned to kill girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp with texts sent by Steenkamp telling Pistorius she was scared of him. While I have heard (but not many others have) that she climbed through a bathroom window in order to surprise her boyfriend on valentines day. Pistorius is supposedly going to be convicted of other offences with a gun, so perhaps silently creeping into a house may make you appear like an intruder. Although now the news is now reporting that he supposedly broke down the toilet door where Steenkamp was hiding with a bat, which isn't really in-keeping with his story. One thing I am not sure I agree with, is that only one judge (as the trial is taking place in South Africa) will make the life-changing decision on the fate of Pistorius and all it comes down too is how strong the evidence is and how good they are at legal reasoning. Personally, I genuinely think it was an accident and that he thought she was an intruder."

If you'd like to take part please email us with 'Your views segment' in the subject header and a short summary about the topic or news story you'd like to write about. Providing that topic has not already been covered we will then reply with further details.