Abstract
This article considers applicant participation in tribunal hearings with reference to notions of legal consciousness and frame, in particular, the light in which a legal representative conceives the hearings. The work examines the role of legal representatives’ in constructing the hearing environment and the nature of proceedings. This article uses a case study of the Immigration Bail Hearings involving semi-structured interviews with legal representatives. The study of immigration bail hearings found that a legal representative’s understanding of the nature of the process appears to inform and mediate their approach to their client’s involvement. It appeared that there was a link between the legal representative’s perception of the system being adversarial in nature and the practice of viewing the active oral contributions in terms of liability and risk. Conversely, the legal representatives who viewed the system as being less adversarial and more informal and inquisitorial in nature spoke positively of the benefits of the involvement of the bail applicant. The article calls for legal representatives to be aware of their own legal consciousness and frames and to reflect on the manner in which these may structure the hearing environment.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | University of Glasgow Law Postgraduate Conference 2018 |
| Subtitle of host publication | Working Papers |
| Editors | Joanna Wilson, Felicity Belton, Donald Buglass |
| Place of Publication | Glasgow |
| Publisher | University of Glasgow |
| Pages | 146-159 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Publication status | Published - 2018 |
| Externally published | Yes |
