Crisis point for legal aid
Updated on 30 March 2007
Lawyers are voting against signing up to the new legal aid system, saying it'll leave the most vulnerable people without representation in court.
It's an unprecedented threat to social justice, say leading lawyers on the eve of changes to the legal aid system in England and Wales - which they say will leave the poorest and most vulnerable people without representation in court.
Today's the deadline to sign up to the new flat fee system - which pays by the case, not by the hour.
Key facts
- Government plans to cut £2 billion a year of legal aid by £500 million.
- Lawyers will be paid per case, rather than hourly
- The Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) argues that hourly rates provide no incentive for cases to be concluded swiftly and can reward inefficiency.
- Lawyers claim that flat fees will make lengthy cases uneconomical, leaving some defendants unable to find solicitors willing to represent them.
Some legal aid firms are refusing to comply - but they're already finding their work has all but vanished.
Some lawyers don't want to be part of a new legal aid system where they'll only be paid by case rather than per hour and must tender for business. If the lawyers are correct than it's the poorer people who will lose out.
Today a range of lawyers groups signed a letter protesting the reforms were an unprecedented threat to social justice - but the legal service commission says 85% of providers have signed up and people who use legal aid should see no deterioration
