ABA House Approves Updated 10 Principles For Public Defense

The House of Delegates approved a measure adopting a new iteration of the ABA Ten Principles of a Public Defense Delivery System at the ABA Annual Meeting in Denver on Monday (article available here).

Resolution 603 outline the basic criteria for providing effective representation to defendants who cannot afford an attorney.

The House adopted the original Ten Principles of a Public Defense Delivery System in 2002.

The Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defense addresses the following in its 10 principles:

• Independence of public defender agencies and their lawyers.
• Adequate state funding and oversight of public defender agencies.
• Regular monitoring and control of public defender agency workloads.
• Collection and review of public defense data and implementation of necessary improvements.
• Eligibility for no-cost public defense services.
• Immediate and confidential access to public defense counsel.
• Comprehensive training and supervision of public defense counsel and staff.
• Importance of “vertical” representation (the same defense lawyer should represent a client throughout their case).
• Client-centered approach and other components of effective representation.
• Inclusion of public defense agencies as equal participants in the legal system.

The Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defense plans to promote and share the principles with public defender agencies, public defense advocacy groups, legal media and other relevant groups.