Delaware Access to Justice Commission subcommittees call for right to counsel

09/18/2017, Court Rule or Initiative, All Basic Human Needs

In September 2017, a report by the Delaware Access to Justice Commission's Subcommittee on the Efficient Delivery and Adequate Funding of Legal Services to the Poor, Subcommittee on Judicial Branch Coordination in Helping Pro Se Litigants, and Subcommittee on Promoting Greater Private Sector Representation of Underserved Litigants urged that "consideration should be given to an expansion of the right of legal assistance to a broader array of legal issues confronting Delawareans, in general, and low-income Delawareans, in particular."  The report noted the growing nationwide movement for a right to counsel in civil cases, the recent achievement of a right to counsel in NYC housing court, and a report by the Civil Justice Strategies Task Force of the California Bar that supported recognition of a right to counsel for cases involving (1) landlord/tenant; (2) family; (3) domestic violence; and (4) immigration.