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What Price Justice?

Friday 15 June 2007

What price justice

If implemented, the government's plans to reform legal aid could lead to hundreds of legal aid practitioners giving up legal aid work. This will leave many vulnerable clients unrepresented. The Law Society's campaign is supported by many of the most influential lobbying organisations in the country.

The What Price Justice campaign's objective is simple:

To persuade the government to guarantee an adequately funded legal aid system ensuring quality representation and access to justice for all.

If you believe in the principles of quality representation and access to justice for all in our society, please support our campaign.

Latest news

Criminal legal aid contract: Society pushes for fair deal

24 September 2007

The Legal Services Commission (LSC) has announced a new six month criminal contract for firms to sign by the end of October. The Law Society rejects the LSC's implication that we are to blame for them offering such short-term contracts. The present situation arises because the LSC was found by the High Court to have acted unlawfully in its attempts to make changes to legal aid contracts. As the profession's representatives, we requested discussions on the terms of the short-term contract. The LSC refused our reasonable request.

We argue that:

  • Firms will be unable to assess the viability of the short-term scheme without clear information about what they are being required to sign up to.
  • It is unreasonable for the LSC to set a deadline for signing up to a transitional scheme without telling the profession what the transition is leading to. Firms need to assess the viability of the ultimate scheme.

Firms will be given until 31 October to sign and return the contract, which will take effect for six months from 14 January 2008.

Advice to practitioners

President Andrew Holroyd said:

'It is vital that firms consider very carefully the likely economic consequences for their practices of signing the contract. By taking on cases under these fee schemes, solicitors will be guaranteeing to provide a proper professional service to their client for the fee on offer. If you do not think you can do that, you must not sign the contract.

'When making their decision, firms should bear in mind that as this contract lasts for only six months, the LSC has committed itself to holding a further bid round for contracts from July 2008, which like this bid round will be open to all firms regardless of whether they then hold a current criminal contract.

'We will be giving further advice to the profession once we have had a chance to consider all the implications, including seeking guidance from the Solicitors Regulation Authority about practitioners' professional obligations. To this end, we are arranging a national meeting for criminal practitioners at Methodist Hall, Westminster on 23 October. Practitioners may feel it would be helpful to await that advice before making their decision whether to sign the contract.'

Read a Law Society press release

LSC recoupment of payments on account – survey results

20 September 2007

The Law Society recently conducted a survey to investigate the extent to which the Legal Services Commission (LSC) is requesting repayment of alleged unrecouped payments on account. Response has shown that the recoupment exercise is still ongoing.
Read more

Judicial review pushes LSC to defer criminal contract changes

6 September 2007

The Law Society's judicial review forced the Legal Services Commission (LSC) to announce a delay of its criminal legal aid contract that was due to run on until April 2008.
Read more

Resolute action after court win

9 August 2007

Following the Law Society's successful High Court challenge of the Unified Contract, we are urging the government to take stock and reconsider its legal aid proposals. We will be resolute in defending the interests of the profession. Before further change is wrought, we ask the government to consult on how such change can be better managed for the benefit of all.
Read a letter from the Law Society president to Jack Straw MP (PDF, 57kb)
Read a letter from the Law Society chief executive to the LSC (PDF, 64kb)

Support the campaign

Over 3,000 people have supported our campaign. Join them by e-mailing whatpricejustice@lawsociety.org.uk.
Order campaign posters and badges (PDF, 145kb)

Lobby your MP

Ask your MP to sign EDM 537
Find out who your MP is at www.upmystreet.com
Find out which seats are marginal (PDF, 91kb)

Send us your case studies

To help support our campaign, we'd like practitioners to send us examples of how the legal aid reforms are affecting their clients.
Send us your case studies

Further info

Supporters of our campaign

More legal aid information

Press releases

Law Society secures court win on legal aid
Law Society claims legal aid victory for minorities
Hudson boosts his legal aid team
Government ignores warnings
Law Society tackles government on legal aid
Law Society defends minority solicitors
Government proposals collapsing under weight of informed criticism
MPs put legal aid case to government
Otterburn report: government cavalier about risks to legal aid
MPs support legal aid
Opposition to legal aid reforms grows
PDS more expensive than private practice defence

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Mental health wastage

Legal aid regulations laid before Parliament

The Legal Services Commission has now laid final regulations before Parliament, to implement their reforms.
The Community Legal Service (Funding) Order 2007
The Community Legal Service (Financial) (Amendment No. 2) Regulations 2007
The Community Legal Service (Funding) (Counsel in Family Proceedings) (Amendment) Order 2007
The Community Legal Service (Costs) (Amendment) Regulations 2007

The Ministry of Justice is consulting on a number of changes to the CDS regulations. These include proposed changes to the Recovery of Defence Costs Orders scheme, CDS Funding Order changes, proposed changes to CDS Financial Eligibility Regulations and proposed changes to the General Regulations.

More information is available on the Legal Services Commission website.

LMS LAPG Annual Conference 2007

The Law Society's Law Management Section, and the Legal Aid Practitioners Group are organising a joint conference to help practitioners understand how to operate under the new fee regime and prepare for the next wave of legal aid changes. It is in Oxford on 19 October, and will feature the launch of a legal aid toolkit. The conference is aimed at managing partners, senior partners, practice managers, special interest groups and LSC representatives.
Read more

Legal aid toolkit

The Law Society's Law Management Section will be launching a toolkit to help practitioners understand how to operate under the new fee regime and prepare for the next wave of changes. It will be launched on 19 October at the LMS LAPG Annual Conference 2007.
More information on the toolkit

Legal action summary

The Society continues to hold the LSC to account to act lawfully in its legal aid reform programme. We have issued a number of legal challenges, including judicial review proceedings in respect of the unified contract and the VHCC scheme.
Read a legal action summary

Unified contract

The High Court has upheld the Law Society's challenge to the Unified Contract. The Society issued judicial review proceedings on 20 April 2007, and simultaneously offered mediation in relation to the LSC's right to unilaterally amend the unified legal aid contract.
Read more – including background information

Background information


Author(s): Law reform and legal policy