This week’s Radio National Law Report considers the difficulties faced by litigants who are forced to represent themselves in court. QPILCH′s Elizabeth Pendlebury says the system is difficult for non-lawyers to navigate: “They don’t expect to have to follow a lot of pre-trial proceedings and steps to set out their case before having a substantive hearing before somebody in the court system.” This can lead to people dropping their cases, even if they have a strong legal position. Judge Misso of the County Court says he tries to provide a “roadmap” for self-represented litigants, but the assistance judges can offer is limited in an adversarial system. The County Court is trying to improve accessibility with a new self-represented litigants coordinator, and a YouTube video guide to court processes.
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