Public Defender and Legal Aid Systems

Background

In many countries the right to counsel requires the creation of public defender and legal aid systems because most criminal defendants are from low-income backgrounds and cannot afford a paid attorney.

The first public defender

United States

The first state to recognize the right to counsel for indigent defendants was Indiana. <ref>Webb v. Baird, 6 Ind. 13 (1853). The landmark decision was grounded in "the principles of a civilized society."

"It is not to be thought of in a civilized community for a moment that any citizen put in jeopardy of life or liberty should be debarred of counsel because he is too poor to employ such aid . . . No court could be expected to respect itself to sit and hear such a trial. The defense of the poor in such cases is a duty which will at once be conceded as essential to the accused, to the court and to the public."

Government-Run Public Defender Offices

Contracted Public Defender Offices

Panel Systems