England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

, a litigant in person is an individual, company or organisation that has

rights of audience In common law, a right of audience is generally a right of a lawyer to appear and conduct proceedings in court on behalf of their client. In English law, there is a fundamental distinction between barristers, who have rights of audience in the ...

(this is, the right to address the court) and is not represented in a court of England and Wales by a solicitor or barrister. Instructing a barrister and not a solicitor, for example through the Public Access Scheme, however, does not prevent the party on whose behalf the barrister had been instructed from being a litigant in person. It is possible nevertheless for litigants in England and Wales to obtain free legal advice and in some cases representation from the

Citizens Advice Bureau Citizens AdviceCitizens Advice is the operating name of The National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux which is the umbrella charity for a wider network of local advice centres. The abbreviation CitA is sometimes used to refer to this nation ...

(CAB). The term ''litigant in person'' is also used in the similar (but separate) legal systems of

Irish law Law of Ireland or Irish law may refer to: * Early Irish law (Brehon law) of Medieval Ireland * Alternative law in Ireland prior to 1921 * Law of the Republic of Ireland * Law of Northern Ireland The law of Northern Ireland is the legal syste ...

and Northern Irish law. The equivalent in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

is a party litigant and in the United States is ''pro se'' legal representation.

Civil defendant

The defendants in the McLibel case (''McDonald's Corporation v Steel & Morris'',

997 Year 997 (Roman numerals, CMXCVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Japan * 1 February: Empress Teishi gives birth to Princess Shushi - she is the first ...

EWHC QB 366) represented themselves in person both at first instance and on appeal during a libel lawsuit which lasted nearly ten years.

Criminal defendant

A special category of ''litigant in person'' arises when a defendant in a criminal case dismisses their defence counsel and chooses to defend the case themselves. This is almost invariably an inadvisable course of action, since the law and procedure can be complex and the penalties if convicted can be severe. Furthermore, in some jurisdictions the ''litigant in person'' is restricted from cross-examining the alleged victim in

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...

and other serious sexual offences. The underlying policy is that an alleged victim should not have to answer directly to an alleged rapist. The right of the individual to defend themselves is in conflict with the need to protect the alleged victim from any further humiliation. In the UK this conflict is resolved by the court appointing a special counsel at public expense to conduct cross-examination. High-profile cases in Scotland where the accused conducted his own defence and lost were Peter Manuel (who was hanged) and

Tommy Sheridan Tommy Sheridan (born 7 March 1966) is a Scottish politician who served as convenor of Solidarity from 2019 to 2021. He previously served as convenor of the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) from 1998 to 2004 and as co-convenor of Solidarity from 2 ...

Appellant in person

An appellant in person is someone who by their own choice, or because their former counsel is criticised and has withdrawn, is conducting their own appeal at a Crown Court or at the Court of Appeal Criminal Division. The number of appellants who choose to do this is exceptionally small, mainly due to the inherent risks involved, appellants who serve a custodial sentence can have part of that sentence ordered to be served again if the court is of the view that the application is without merit. They must also understand highly complex court procedures, prepare detailed legal paperwork and orally argue a full legal appeal case in front of three High Court judges and a full court.

Representing companies

In ''Battle v Irish Art Promotion Centre Ltd'', the Supreme Court of Ireland ruled that a company cannot be represented by a

corporate officer Corporate titles or business titles are given to corporate officers to show what duties and responsibilities they have in the organization. Such titles are used by publicly and privately held for-profit corporations, cooperatives, non-profit or ...

in lieu of a barrister or solicitor. The "''Battle'' rule" has been slightly relaxed by later decisions.

Notes

{{reflist

References

* https://web.archive.org/web/20050405065918/http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/
Discussion
in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

, UK of ''litigants in person'' in the context of sexual cases, in

Hansard ''Hansard'' is the traditional name of the transcripts of parliamentary debates in Britain and many Commonwealth countries. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard (1776–1833), a London printer and publisher, who was the first official prin ...