Draft regulations to implement part of the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) were defeated in the House of Lords on Monday 3 December, after it was pointed out that they had been drawn too narrowly to fulfil a commitment made during the passage of the Act.
The government's regulations under LASPO to bring back legal aid for a very limited class of welfare benefits cases in the first-tier tribunals were defeated by 201 votes to 191. This is only the third time a statutory instrument has been voted down in the Lords since 1968.
In a separate debate, the minister agreed to bring forward additional regulations to clarify the position on judicial reviews. These will make it clear that there will be no additional, unexpected hurdles to secure legal aid for these cases.
A spokesman for the Law Society said:
'The government's headlong dash towards implementation of the LASPO Act would appear to be introducing errors on detail – such as the one exposed by the almost unprecedented defeat for secondary legislation in the Lords yesterday – and miscalculation of its effect – as in the preposterous proposals to slash fees for handling of road accident claims.
'The government would be well advised to take a more considered, thoughtful approach, to work closely with all stakeholders – not just insurers - to mitigate the effects of these unpopular changes and ensure the detailed drafting matches the commitments made as the primary legislation made its way through parliament.'
Further coverage in the Gazette