miercuri, 3 februarie 2010

The length of proceedings in the case-law


Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights lays down as one of the guarantees of a fair trial the requirement that proceedings should take place within a "reasonable time".
In terms of numbers, this consideration alone has been the subject of almost one-third of the judgments delivered by the Court since 1 968. Much can be learnt from the wealth of case-law produced, founded on a wide interpretation of the procedures that are subject to this need for rapidity.
In terms of quality, the right to a reasonable time-limit in legal proceedings is an original and fundamental element of the Convention and its supervisory mechanism. By creating a genuine right for the public to have cases heard within a reasonable time, and by imposing sanctions on states which fail to observe this condition, the European human rights protection system has played a decisive role in fighting against the sometimes excessive time required to obtain justice on the European continent.
In addition, the European Court of Human Rights has obliged member states to set up, within their internal legal systems, public to bring
actions against infringements of this right, defining at both European and national level what constitutes a delay which may be unreasonable and thus subject to sanction.
The "Human rights files" series is aimed at specialists in European law: lawyers, practitioners and research students. It also constitutes a useful resource for the implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights in the signatory states.

But not all the time the cases are solved in a "reasonable time" sometimes simple cases developes in 1-2 years ... and hard cases in 5-6 years !!!

Lawyer cost and price



The cost of hiring a criminal attorney depends a great deal on the nature and severity of the charges, the complexity of the case, the lawyer's years of experience and the size of the law firm, among other factors. Fees can vary significantly in different cities, counties and states.

Typical costs:

* A lawyer will almost always want to meet and discuss the specific circumstances of your case before quoting a fee, either an hourly rate ($100-$300) or a flat charge based on the type of case, such as $500-$1,200 for first-time drunk driving charges. However, legal costs for a complex DUI/DWI case can easily run anywhere from $2,500 to $25,000, according to MSN.com.
* A retainer is an up-front fee you pay to hire your attorney, usually a percentage of the total case fee or the equivalent of several hours work. A lawyer working on an hourly basis deducts that hourly rate from the retainer as the work is done; when the retainer is gone, you are billed for additional payment.
* For misdemeanor charges, retainers usually start around$2,000-$4,000. In felony cases the retainers can be $5,000-$10,000, but could easily be $25,000-$50,000 or more for extremely serious charges, such as homicide or sexual assault.
* If you can't afford to pay legal fees and you are facing criminal charges that could result in a jail or prison term of six months or more, you are legally entitled to a lawyer at no charge to you; the judge will either appoint a private attorney or assign a government public defender to represent you.


Additional costs:

* Court fees or fines vary widely depending on the charges and jurisdiction, and are not included in the attorney's fees.
* Depending on the case, fees for investigators or expert witnesses can be anywhere from $2,000-$7,500 or more, and are in addition to the lawyer's fee.
* Attorneys charge for their time answering your questions through phone calls or e-mails, as well as for case-related expenses such as photocopies, interviews or research.

Discounts:

* If the charges against you are relatively minor, a fairly new attorney usually charges less per hour or per case than a more experienced lawyer.

A very good movie Law Abiding Citizen

I will show you a very good movie and name is Law Abiding Citizen .The story is this :
A frustrated man decides to take justice into his own hands after a plea bargain sets one of his family's killers free. He targets not only the killer but also the district attorney and others involved in the deal.
And here is a trailer :

General attorney in some country

Canada General Attorney
The Minister of Justice and Attorney General are combined into one cabinet position in Canada. The Attorney General is the chief law officer of The Crown. The Minister of Justice is concerned with questions of policy and their relationship to the justice system.

Australia General Attorney
In Australia the Attorney-General is the chief law officer of the Crown and a member of the Cabinet. The Attorney-General is the minister responsible for legal affairs, national and public security and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation. Robert McClelland is the current Attorney-General.

Spain General Attorney
In Spain is called Fiscalía General or Ministerio Fiscal

United States Of America General Attorney
In the Federal Government of the United States, the Attorney General is a member of the Cabinet and as head of the Department of Justice is the top law enforcement officer and lawyer for the government. The attorney general may need to be distinguished from the Solicitor General, a high Justice Department official with the responsibility of representing the government before the Supreme Court. In cases of exceptional importance, however, the Attorney General may choose to represent the government himself or herself to the Supreme Court.
The individual U.S. states also have attorneys general with similar responsibilities. The majority of state attorneys general are chosen by popular election, as opposed to the U.S. Attorney General who is a presidential appointee.

England and Wales general attorney
The Attorney General for England and Wales is the chief legal adviser of the Crown in England and Wales, and a member of the Government. The Attorney General provides legal advice to the Government of the day. By convention, this legal advice is available to subsequent governments, unlike the papers of other ministers.

In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney (D.A.) is the appointed public official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of assistant (ADA) or deputy district attorneys. Similar functions are carried out at the local level in other jurisdictions by officers named the Commonwealth's Attorney, State's Attorney, County Attorney, or County Prosecutor.

What is a lawyer


A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person licensed to practice law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political and social authority, and deliver justice. Working as a lawyer involves the practical application of abstract legal theories and knowledge to solve specific individualized problems, or to advance the interests of those who retain (i.e., hire) lawyers to perform legal services.

The role of the lawyer varies significantly across legal jurisdictions, and so it can be treated here in only the most general terms.More information is available in country-specific articles (see below).

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Anabolic steroids were first developed in the 1930s and were originally designed as hormone replacement drugs to help treat patients who were not able to produce enough testosterone. However these drugs could also boost male hormone production in healthy people as well, and this had a knock on effect of dramatically increasing muscle density and strength when combined with fitness training, and so athletes began using anabolic steroids in order to improve performance. In the 1950s and 60s anabolic steroids were widely used by a whole range of Olympic athletes, and at this time the incredible effects of these drugs on performance were not fully recognised and it was not until 1970’s that steroids were banned from the Olympics, and a full scale drug testing program was introduced by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).