Opinion ID: 2275396
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Representation Rights Generally

Text: The right to have counsel appointed at State expense in any proceeding is determined by the due process requirements in the United States Constitution [8] and the Delaware Constitution. [9] This Court has consistently stated that the term due process of law in the Federal Constitution is a synonym for the phrase law of the land as used in article 7 and article 9 of the Delaware Constitution. [10] The United States Supreme Court has determined that the due process requirement in the United States Constitution is a flexible concept that calls for such procedural and substantive protections as the situation demands. [11] Accordingly, the United States Supreme Court has held that due process clause in the United States Constitution is not a fixed concept but implicitly means fundamental fairness in the context of specific circumstances. [12] In the Delaware Constitution, however, the phrase law of the land is connected conjunctively with the phrase justice administered according to the very right of the cause. [13] Thus, although the flexible concept of due process is only implicit in the United States Constitution, the framers of Delaware's Constitution explicitly guaranteed fundamental fairness in the administration of justice for the citizens of Delaware, with regard to the specific context, in all causes of action. [14] In some circumstances, the textual differences between the Federal Constitution and the Delaware Constitution have naturally led to different interpretations of their corollary due process provisions. [15] Nevertheless, with regard to an indigent person's right to have counsel appointed at State expense, this Court's construction of the Delaware Constitution's mandate for due process in accordance with the right of the cause has been consistent with the flexible standards of due process enunciated by the United States Supreme Court in Mathews v. Eldridge. [16] Those factors, commonly referred to as the Eldridge factors, are: (1) the private interests at stake, (2) the government's interests, and (3) the risk the procedures used will lead to an erroneous result. [17]