Government officials preoccupied with other aspects of criminal justice reform often fail to acknowledge the complexity of ensuring adequate representation for those accused of crimes, passing the responsibility to the private Bar without adequate pay and any checks on the services delivered. As a result, government policy in this area is often ad hoc, ill-conceived, or poorly administered. No international standards prescribe a particular system or structure to ensure the delivery of legal aid. Each state must tailor appropriate solutions to its own context. Often this leads governments to strike an imperfect balance between meeting increasing legal aid needs and bowing to budgetary constraints. Diverse ―safety net schemes -- haphazard ex officio panel appointment systems, assigning random attorneys from the practicing bar, often at very low government pay rates -- produce erratic or poor quality service, and in turn, sub-standard justice. Right to free legal aid to indigent criminal defendants that must be ―real and effective in many parts of Europe and particularly in Eastern Europe remains in fact theoretical and illusory.

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