Peter van den Biggelaar, Former CEO Dutch Legal Aid Board Conference Almaty, November 4th 2016

1. Rule of Law and Contemporary
Trends in Evolution of Advokatura
Quality Legal Aid
Peter van den Biggelaar
Former CEO Dutch Legal Aid Board
Conference Almaty
November 4th 2016

2. 2
In order to create a good system of legal aid it is
necessary to strike the right balance (checks and
balances) between the interests of the various
stakeholders:
• those who need legal aid;
• those who provide legal aid;
• those who pay legal aid (taxpayers);
the government;
• others who benefit from a good legal aid
scheme (i.e. courts).
It costs a lot of time
It’s a never ending story
In advance

3. 3
…..and

4. 4
• Reliability: users must be able to trust the legal
aid system.
• Value for money: interest government, tax
payers.
• To constantly enhance the trust in rule of law.
• To be assured of the trust of the international
community.
Why is quality so important?
Reasons to invest in quality

5. 5
• It creates a climate for investment.
• To confirm the crown jewels of the BAR.
• Reducement of mistakes.
• Bring justice. Convictions-acquittal.
• Need for accountability: LAB monitors quality of
services and reports to Ministry, Parliament and
BAR.
Why is quality important?
Reasons to invest in quality

6. 6
• The Bar Association (Bar)
• Government/Ministry of Justice
• Legal Aid Board (LAB)
• Own responsibility lawyers
Need for cooperation to develop standards and
procedures
Emergence of lawyer-specialist associations
Who is responsible?
Providing quality is a shared responsibility

7. 7
How to develop quality mechanism?
Quality the basket of first line
• Advanced education
• Training for starters
• Customized training
• Inter Collegial Consultation
• Diagnosis / Expert system
• Clients satisfaction surveys
• Mystery guests
• Interim review
• Satisfaction surveys amongst staff members
• Questionnaires amongst intermediaries
• Questionnaires amongst attorneys

8. 8
How to develop quality mechanism?
Quality criteria for lawyers to work for Legal Aid Board (LAB)
• Lawyers must be member of the Dutch Bar
Association.
• Lawyers must comply with conditions set by the
Bar for basic registration.
• Above this lawyers must agree with additional
conditions for registration set by the LAB.
• For some juridical fields extra terms apply:
training, experience, member of specialisation-
association, peer review.

9. 9
● Information
● Signals
● Input for criteria
Cooperation
Role judiciary

10. 10
• Duty solicitors schema
• Ad random
• Independently
• Registration and checks
Criminal
conditions

11. • Input-> education, skills training, office accommodation etc
• Structure->management of inputs, record keeping, complains etc
• Process->whole range of lawyering, fact gathering, analysis,
strategy, advice etc more difficult, subjective
• Outcome-> case cost, time, success rate, client satisfaction etc
most difficult to measure interpretation etc
Quality measures
Four proxies for quality

12. 12
Quality measures Bar
• Conditions for basic registration: audit.
• Traineeship: three years.
• Permanent education and training (20 points).
• Disciplinary proceedings, special courts.

13. 13
Organization of the office:
• What are the opening hours?
• Management files: well ordered, accessibility, confidentiality guaranteed?
• Staff members: is a signed confidentiality agreement in stock?
• How is insured that time limits are not exceeded?
• Is a regulation for substitution in case of absence in stock?
Relationship with clients:
• Estimation of achievability of the clients wishes.
• Estimation of financial consequences of assigning the case.
• Use of standard confirmation letter.
• Registration of working hours and costs.
• Liability insurance.
Quality management:
• How is knowledge system organized?
• Member of lawyer specialist-association?
• Does the office take part in intervision or peer review?
• Is the office affiliated to a complaint scheme?
• Does the office evaluate judgments of clients on services?
Bar: conditions basic registration

14. 14
• Registration on basis of specialism for some fields of
legal aid (criminal, juveniles, victims, family, asylum, psychiatric,
international child abduction)
• Extra qualifications based on knowledge and
experience:
• basic training
• minimum amount of cases
• permanent education points
• Maximum amount of cases: 250 and maximum amount
of billing hours: 2000
• Obligation to use Best Practice Guides
• Obligation to take part in intervision and peer review
• Prohibition of billing other fees than own contribution to
clients
Conditions for registration

15. 15
Specialized legal areas/cases:
• Criminal law
• Juvenile delinquency
• Victim cases
• Asylum law / Alien law
• Psychiatric cases
• Family law
• International child abduction
LAB: additional criteria for
registration

16. • Initiative of LAB and the Bar
• Developed by lawyers
• Paid for by LAB
• Checklist for lawyers: what is good practice?
• Checklist for intervision, peer review and
judgment on complaints
Good practice: Best Practice
Guides

17. Minimum standards for handling of cases. Examples:
• Acquired knowledge
• Communication with clients: use of simple
language
• Use of interpreters and translation of
documents
• Instructions:
• how to register time limits
• how to proceed before the court
• how to inform a client after court session
• Information about the possibility for a
second opinion
Best Practice Guides
17

18. 18