PaxNova t1_jdie90y wrote on March 24, 2023 at 4:42 PM

Can anybody explain what he cab rank rule is? In the US, lawyers can choose not to represent somebody if they don't want, apart from perhaps public defenders.

Gallalad t1_jdkksjb wrote on March 25, 2023 at 1:45 AM

These are barristers for the prosecution. Basically it's like if the state prosecutor said they wouldn't prosecute a case even if directed to.

veilwalker t1_jdkv4el wrote on March 25, 2023 at 3:12 AM

As long as you aren’t in Florida the govt. usually leaves prosecution decisions to the office in charge of the area.

dragodrake t1_jdn5aeu wrote on March 25, 2023 at 5:19 PM

In the UK the decision to prosecute is made by the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) who are themselves barristers/solicitors on the government payroll - however they do not prosecute the case in court.

The CPS keep a list of approved barristers for criminal cases who they can basically sub-contract the work out to, to actually prosecute the case in court on behalf of the crown.

The cab rank rule basically means those on the approved list arent allowed to pick and choose, the CPS assigns cases to the next in line and they are expected to accept the work irrelevant of the case. Its technically meant to work the same for people looking for a legal professional to defend them, they shouldn't be turned away based on the case, but in actuality its usually fairly easy to find a 'conflict' or a 'diary overlap' if you really don't want to do it.

Its also worth noting a bunch of the people who signed this declaration are not actually barristers on the CPS's approved list - so they couldn't prosecute these cases on behalf of the crown even if they wanted to, its just virtue signalling.

Airbornequalified t1_jdla29k wrote on March 25, 2023 at 5:45 AM

Are they elected or appointed? While uncommon, these type of things happen occasionally in the us as well and the recourse is an election recall and re-election

Gallalad t1_jdlbabq wrote on March 25, 2023 at 6:01 AM

Appointed. This is not a political job. Usually they're veteran barristers (trial lawyers) of at least 15 years who's job it is is to be the prosecutor on behalf of the crown (just a fancy way of saying the state), hence Kings Counsel.

Recourse here is that they're gonna be put before the bar and since they broken the cab rank rule which specifies that a barrister must take a case they are qualified for, provided they are available to do so.

Airbornequalified t1_jdlhxpj wrote on March 25, 2023 at 7:34 AM

Ahhhh. Thank you for explaining that, as I didn’t understand the big issue

Gallalad t1_jdoemkw wrote on March 25, 2023 at 10:50 PM

Its all good. Honestly its one of those things which I'm struggling to adapt to (I moved to North America) and the fact you are such a democratic society is sometimes jarring, partisanship is the norm. Like even your school boards, police and judges are elected. Back in Ireland I couldnt even elect my own senator.

CyberSkepticalFruit t1_jdlkm5f wrote on March 25, 2023 at 8:14 AM

Barristers have to work the next case as it becomes available. They can ask the judge to be recused from the case if they have grounds, but I don't think a UK judge would accept the barristers reasons in this sort of case.