Table of Contents
What is a Criminal Lawyer?
A criminal lawyer is a professional that is responsible for handling criminal offenses. They may either be on the prosecuting side or the defending side depending upon the nature of their case and the client. A expert criminal lawyer is a professional with ample court experience to deal with criminal cases neutrally and impartially. Their main job is to ensure that the laws are upheld and that their clients receive a fair treatment in the court of law. Typically, a criminal lawyer is a professional practitioner of law and legality but their profession is far from what is depicted in Television dramas or media.
What is Criminal Law?
As the name implies, criminal laws define the criminal offenses. They are the rules and procedures that are applied when an offense is committed. These offenses may include any behaviours that bring about harm to the public or individual as well as any immoral behaviours or practices. Some of the example of criminal offenses may include murder, arson, money laundering or even terrorism.
The criminal legislation has forbidden all such behaviours that may cause harm to public welfare or property. However, this is not the only purpose of having criminal laws. Criminal Laws tend to have a dual purpose.
- To control the citizens from performing any actions that may be harmful to an individual or general public by deeming it punishable by law
- To inflict punishment or repercussions of the actions that may include the violations of such laws.
What does a Criminal Lawyer do?
The job of a criminal lawyer is much more complicated to be simply described in a few words. The profession of a criminal lawyer is quite vast and immense considering criminal laws by themselves are in a huge variety. Individual cases tend to have their individual demands as well depending upon which the tasks of a criminal lawyer may increase.
In fact there are certain types of solicitors that may work within the circle of criminal law.
Criminal Defence Solicitor: They help people to uphold their legal rights when someone is suspected for or has been charged for a crime. Their main job is to ensure that the one under charge gets the right to fairly defend themselves in court.
Their main duties include:
- Representing their defendant is court throughout the case
- Going over the stages of the defendant’s criminal procession
- Presenting their case as an advocate in court
- Reviewing the materials related to the investigation
- Reviewing the case reports including the police reports, witness statements and forensic reports.
- Keeping their clients updated and remaining in contact with them.
- Researching the case and strategizing accordingly
- Visiting their client in prison or at home
- Managing and drafting legal documents
- Managing the case including the plea bargains and trying to reduce the sentences.
Criminal Duty Solicitor: A criminal duty solicitor may represent an individual that is accused or suspected of crime in cases where the individual may not have an access to a solicitor. They are paid by the Legal Services Commision and hence they are free of charge for people who cannot access solicitors. They tend to work for a panel of solicitors and are not employed by courts or police so they may only appear by the side of someone who is facing a trial but cannot access a solicitor.
Their key responsibilities may include
- Ensuring that the legal rights of the defendant are observed
- Guiding the defendant regarding their case
- Discussing the evidence with the defendant and their choices
- Challenging the evidence and contacting the witnesses
- Ensuring a fair hearing and representation of the defendant in court
Criminal Prosecution :
A prosecutor is the lawyer that represents the case against the defendant. In simple words, they are responsible for prosecuting the accused. They are mostly employed by the government in order to ensure that the person responsible for crime is punished by the court.
The key responsibilities of criminal prosecutor include:
- Working over the police evidence and determining the criminal progression
- Working with the administrative staff and the teams of caseworkers
- Working with the law enforcement and criminal justice agencies
- Working with the police and probation services
- Dealing with the Criminal Defence Solicitors and court staff
- Ensuring that the criminal offenders get their due punishments
- Presenting and advising the court against the defendant
10 Reasons why you may need an Expert Criminal Lawyer
There are a number of reasons why having an expert criminal lawyer can be pretty beneficial for your case. The major ones include the fact that these are experts who have a lot of experience over how things work in court and therefore they can help you better in matters related to court. However, the 10 main reason why you should consider and Expert Criminal Lawyer rather than representing your own case are as follows:
- While facing criminal charges, you may be on par with many complex issues that may take a lot of knowledge in handling. Criminal Lawyers can save you from the stress of dealing with the complexities of your case. This means you can sit back without any worries and let the professionals do their job.
- Criminal Lawyers can reduce the risks of being accused of a crime. While you may think that hiring a criminal lawyer may be costly but it is not more costly than being charged. The court processions are complicated and many times people can be wrongly accused or found guilty when they are innocent. Hiring a criminal lawyer may reduce the risk of being unlawfully accused due to small errors that you may make while handling your own case.
- Criminal lawyers can provide you support with police interviews. You are more likely to make mistakes during police interviews. They know what your rights are and what you should do or how you should interact with the police. This can save you from a lot of hassle later over saying the wrong things.
- Criminal lawyers can help you with your bail application. You wouldn’t want to sit in jail until your hearing. Having an expert by your side may help you prepare your bail application early so that you can truly focus upon the procession of your case in court.
- Criminal lawyers are experts of their field, they know how to handle the evidence better and use it for your benefit. Many times during criminal trials, the evidence is likely to be manipulated by the prosecution side. A criminal lawyer knows how to present your evidence and cross examine them with the witnesses.
- Criminal lawyers are experts at handling witnesses. Many times, people might not be willing to come forward with their testimonies. They might even be hesitant about speaking the matter with you. Though, they may prefer talking to a professional and agreeing with their offers. Criminal lawyers can also cross question the testimonies of the witnesses of the prosecution and find any possible faults or problems with the testimonies.
- Criminal lawyers have strategic plans to handle the case in court. They know what information is relevant and what laws can be used to strengthen your case. This can even heavily impact the outcome of a losing case.
- Criminal lawyers are more likely to identify the problems and weaknesses in the opposition’s case. They know the evidence that is allowed and the evidence that may be inadmissible in court. Since they are more familiar with the procedures, they may even contact the prosecution regarding certain evidence that must not be added during the trial.
- Criminal lawyers are experienced professionals that know how to handle public interest submissions. This means that they can make such submissions on the argument of public interest and help with the discontinuation of the case even without the trials. Such cases are drafted quite professionally and befit a certain criteria that an experienced criminal lawyer may be well familiar with.
- Expert Criminal Lawyers know when you should plead guilty. They already have the know-how of the ending outcome of the case. This is why instead of always going for a victory they may go for more realistic options and provide you alternatives in dealing with your case instead. In some criminal cases, jail time is inevitable. Therefore, your criminal lawyer may rework their strategy and set a different objective. These objectives might include designing a favorable sentence for you when you plead guilty.
In short, a criminal lawyer can ensure that whatever the outcome of your case may be, it should harm you as little as possible. In case you can’t avoid jail time, the lawyer may turn their focus towards putting in plea bargains or ensuring that your sentence is somehow reduced. These were the major 10 reasons why you should go for hiring a criminal lawyer. There are of course other reasons but the major ones are listed above.
Conclusion
Having a criminal lawyer by your side can be a great reassurance during the case. You no longer have to fight by yourself or deal with the stress of a criminal case alone. Having an experienced professional by your side can not only raise the chances of your success but it can also reduce the time that is spent in court.
Contact Vista Criminal Lawyer today to get legal help in dealing with a criminal case.
