13/5/05
Dear Judge Besford, Neil Anderson and Scott Turner, Kingston Upon Hull Combined Courts, Hull, England, U.K
I have just had a returned phonecall from another solicitor, from Iverson's of Hull.
Again, he informed me, like the rest of the past solicitors, that most solicitors, do not specialise in the area of litigation, in Community Care and the NHS and Community Care Act and Disability Discrimination and Human Rights and they usually can only give 'generalist' legal advice. There are no specialist legal advocates, in the Hull and East Riding locality and has you are well informed, there are no specialist legal-advocates around the U.K, as I have tried all these years, since 1995, to receive this specialist legal support and independent lay advocacy, without any success, up to today's date.
As you are well informed within my case this is what I have been told, by numerous solicitors and barristers, in my case, in the past. As this solicitor, like the others have just said, is that the 'legal-aid' system, has been rationed, over the last 10 years, by the Government and it's now the case, that legal-advocates, are no longer in control of individuals cases anymore and it's the Community Legal Services(CLS), that are controlling all cases and they are 'not' funding cases and are 'rationing' legal-aid.
I have been informed this over and over again, by all my previous solicitors and barristers and also that the CLS and Law Society and BAR Council, are being told to write reports, to state that 'clients' have 'not' got a case to answer in the courts.
This is very disturbing when every individuals is supposed to have the human and civil right to specialist legal-advocacy within the courts and it's not supposed to be based on 'ability-to-pay'.
All citizens, in the U.K and Europe have the human and civil right to be represented by specialist legal solicitors/barristers within the courts, but due to this 'rationing', by the Government, then individuals, like myself, are being denied their 'right to a fair hearing'; also has you are well informed disabled vulnerable adults are being denied access to 'independent lay-advocates', in the courts, in which is a breach of the DDA and HRA.
I will be sending a copy of this email to Paul Shattock, OBE and Adrian Whyatt, DANDA and also my colleagues and disabled peer advocates, Dr Linda Misek-Falkoff and Tina Minkowitz, NGO representatives within the United Nations, Disability Treaty Working Group, where I am involved within an advisory capacity, as you are well informed, as a user-led neurodiverse disabled people's local, national and international human and civil rights campaigner, educator and researcher and others within the U.K and global disabled people's movement for their urgent attention and responses.
I will ask them all to correspond with the appropriate Government Departments and I am aware that Paul Shattock, OBE, is writing to the Lord Chancellors, on these issues above mentioned to be addressed urgently.
As you know I have been in continuous correspondence with the Law Society and BAR Council, on these issues for years, but nothing seems to be changing and individuals, like myself and others, are being denied and infringed of their basic Human and Civil rights to 'natural-justice'.
Your Sincerely
Mr Colin Revell
________________End of message______________________
Archives and tools for the Disability-Research Discussion List
are now located at:
www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html
You can JOIN or LEAVE the list from this web page.
|