Radical shake-up for legal aid
Radical reforms of the legal aid system that would substantially cut the amount spent on criminal cases have been announced today by the Lord Chancellor.
Half of all legal aid spending in the crown court goes on just one per cent of cases, according to official figures, while 13 cases alone cost the taxpayer £48 million last year.
Spending on civil and family legal aid, excluding asylum, has fallen by 24 per cent in real terms in the past seven years, while criminal legal aid costs have risen by 37 per cent in the same period.
Lord Falconer hopes the proposed reforms will reduce the legal aid budget by £7 million this year and even more in forthcoming years by cutting costs for the so-called high cost trials in particular.
“We need a fairer deal for legal aid. I am putting forward today a package of measures which will benefit the justice system as a whole, and help provide fair justice at a fair price – fair to the taxpayer, fair to the vulnerable, fair to defendants and fair to practitioners,” he said.
A review has been set up under Lord Carter of Coles which will examine, among others, proposals that would require law firms to compete for block contracts of work.
The attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, has already announced plans to replace juries in complex fraud trials with a single judge, while the provision of legal aid in childcare proceedings is also currently under review.
“We recognise the importance of providing legal aid to criminal defendants, but the costs of that must be proportionate. At present they are not,” the Lord Chancellor continued.
“The disproportionate amount of money spent on defending high-cost criminal cases must be redistributed to help ensure all criminal cases are dealt with swiftly and fairly.
“This will allow greater flexibility in the way the legal aid budget is structured so that more civil help and advice can be provided to those who need it.”
Any efforts to cut barristers’ salaries, which have already been frozen for eight years, could well result in strike action, however. A survey of more than 1,000 criminal barristers last month found that 97 per cent backed direct action over pay.
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