17
November
Law Society President,
John Wotton said he was struck by the forthright report of the
Lords Constitution
Committee, which described the Committee's
'significant constitutional concerns' regarding the
Government's Legal Aid Bill, currently before
Parliament.
John Wotton
said:
“It is unusual for
a Lords Committee to express their concerns with such startling
clarity. There have been concerns that the Bill is unlikely to
deliver the claimed savings but as the Constitution Committee
makes clear, access to justice is a priceless
constitutional right. The Government should take this report to
heart and work with stakeholders to improve the Bill so that it
does not jeopardise access to justice for all but the most
wealthy.”
The Law Society argues
that the Lord Chancellor should be granted a power to bring cases
back into the scope of legal aid by regulation, so that serious
problems could be addressed without the need for primary
legislation, and supports the Committee's view that the right to
free advice in the police station should be maintained without
exception.