The pains of going to court: Unrepresented defendants’ ability to effectively participate in court proceedings

Abstract

Within this article, the pains that unrepresented defendants experience when representing themselves in court will be discussed from the perspective of court professionals and the researcher. For the purpose of this article, an unrepresented defendant is someone who at some stage during court proceedings is not represented by a lawyer. Based upon data gathered from 20 semi-structured interviews with court actors and courtroom observations at two magistrates’ courts, it will be argued that while most defendants tend to struggle to effectively participate in court proceedings (e.g. follow and understand what is taking place), this is particularly the case for those who are unrepresented. It is important that defendants can participate in court proceedings for due process, human rights and liberal democratic reasons.