Richard Burgon writes:
In the Autumn of 2015, newly-elected Labour party
leader Jeremy Corbyn asked Lord Bach to carry out a review of the legal
aid system.
Lord Bach then widened his work to a review of access to justice more generally, given concern across the legal profession that people are being priced out of justice.
The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Thomas, himself commented earlier this year that "our system of justice has become unaffordable to most".
Lord Bach then widened his work to a review of access to justice more generally, given concern across the legal profession that people are being priced out of justice.
The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Thomas, himself commented earlier this year that "our system of justice has become unaffordable to most".
Since 2010, the Conservatives – initially aided and
abetted by the Liberal Democrats – have implemented unprecedented
cuts to legal aid.
In 2012, the Coalition passed legislation which did away with legal aid for social welfare cases – community care, debt, employment, housing and welfare benefits.
This meant vast numbers of people would no longer be able to get legal advice and assistance if they could not afford representation.
In 2012, the Coalition passed legislation which did away with legal aid for social welfare cases – community care, debt, employment, housing and welfare benefits.
This meant vast numbers of people would no longer be able to get legal advice and assistance if they could not afford representation.
In 2012-13 – prior to the implementation of Legal
Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act – 724,243 civil law
cases were funded by legal aid.
In 2015-16, that fell to just 258,460 cases.
This shows the sheer scale of the denial of access to justice.
At the time
of its changes, the government promised to review the effect of these cuts
within three to five years.
That review is not even started, despite
reports by Amnesty International and the Trade Unions Congress this
year highlighting the ongoing injustices Conservative cuts have
caused.
Further cuts to criminal legal aid fees have forced some solicitors out of
business.
The introduction of Employment Tribunal fees has seen a 70 per cent
reduction in cases.
That's not a figure which can be honestly explained
away as a reduction in meritless claims.
And many capable young lawyers are
leaving the profession, just as many are being put off from
entering the profession in the first place by the debt attempting
to do so can incur.
It was Clement Attlee’s Labour government that passed
the Legal Aid and Advice Act of 1949. The legislation itself was influenced by
the work of the Rushcliffe Committee.
The committee produced a report on
"legal aid and legal advice in England and Wales" and had been asked
"to enquire what facilities at present exist in England and Wales for
giving legal advice and assistance to poor persons".
In the event, the
committee recommended that assistance should be more widely available for
ordinary people.
It was under Attlee that legal aid became the "fourth
pillar of the welfare state".
Unfortunately, the Conservatives have taken
us back to the time before the Attlee government.
I have great hope, therefore,
that Lord Bach’s commission has the same potential as the Rushcliffe report – the potential to change the landscape of access to justice in England and
Wales.
Lord Bach has gathered a committee of independent experts to
guide and inform the work, including my colleague Christina Rees MP.
Many more
lawyers’ groups, charities and interested parties have contributed in writing
to the project.
The Interim Report sets
out the Commission’s plans to draft proposals including a minimum standard for
access to justice, the reform of legal aid and increasing access to legal
advice.
There is also much of substance elsewhere in the report, which
will be welcome to all those who value the principle of access to justice.
I am
particularly excited by the idea of enshrining in law a minimum standard for
access to justice.
At present the Lord Chancellor is required only "to
ensure the provision of resources for the efficient and effective support of
the courts".
A basic threshold for access to justice has the potential to
be a historic advance in our law which could improve the lives of thousands.
The Bach Commission’s findings will inform Labour's
justice policy as we look ahead to a General Election in 2020 or
before.
It is a major piece of work which will be finished in time for the
Labour party Conference next September.
We are determined that the Labour party
will extend access to justice and provide legal assistance to all those who
need it, regardless of their ability to pay.
The crisis in the justice
system in England & Wales is the interim report by the Bach Commission on Access to Justice
and is published today by the Fabian Society.
In order to continue its valuable work and identify solutions to
the crisis in the justice system, the Commission is crowdsourcing funds for its second phase.
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