‘Digitising the divorce application process and hoping for the best isn’t enough to reform the legal requirements for splitting up, the Law Society has warned, telling the government to restore legal aid so that separating couples can receive early advice.’
Law Society's Gazette, 11th December 2018
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘Cuts to legal aid have created “deserts” of provision across England and Wales, a BBC investigation found.’
BBC News, 10th December 2018
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘The government has announced that it will introduce a new mental health bill following today’s publication of the findings of an independent review into the Mental Health Act 1983. However it is silent on the review’s recommendation that bereaved families should receive non-means tested legal aid – despite already pledging to accept two other recommendations.’
Law Society's Gazette, 6th December 2018
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘Matthew Richardson, barrister at Coram chambers considers the fundamental problem with re-shaping our justice system around a huge increase in litigants in person, caused by the removal of legal aid provision from most cases.’
Family Law Week, 9th November 2018
Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk
‘New research commissioned by the Bar Council reveals the full scale of a decade of dis-investment in justice and argues that decisions to make wholesale budget cuts cannot be blamed on austerity measures alone.’
The Bar Council, 1st November 2018
Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk
‘A human rights organisation is taking the national provider of legal aid to court because it is refusing to help rough sleepers challenge councils over the use of potentially unlawful powers to move them on.’
The Guardian, 23rd October 2018
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘A new research project will examine whether vulnerable people representing themselves in child court cases find themselves and their children put at risk by misinformed or biased online legal advice.’
Family Law, 18th October 2018
Source: www.familylaw.co.uk
‘If you want to appeal against a guilty verdict given by a crown court jury you first have to seek permission from the Court of Appeal. For permission to be granted, a judge has to be satisfied there is an ‘arguable case’ that the conviction was ‘unsafe’. If so, the appeal is heard in full by a panel of three judges. The latest figures show that in 2016-17 the court received 1305 applications for permission to appeal, and dealt with 850, refusing permission to 695 (82 per cent). It heard 215 appeals, and allowed 78 – 36 per cent of those heard.’
London Review of Books, 11th October 2018
Source: www.lrb.co.uk
‘The number of non-molestation orders – issued by courts to prevent domestic abuse – has rocketed by 37% over the past five years because they are being exploited to secure legal aid, according to the charity Families Needs Fathers.’
The Guardian, 15th October 2018
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘It is increasingly difficult for defendants and claimants to find solicitors prepared to represent them due to government legal aid cuts, the Law Society has warned.’
The Guardian, 28th September 2018
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘A criminal sole practitioner has been fined for offences including failure to distribute legal aid payments for professional disbursements, which he blamed on having laid off a manager after the firm suffered from government cutbacks.’
Legal Futures, 25th September 2018
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘The government has today published its response to MPs’ concerns about the “damaging” effects of legal aid reforms on human rights, painting a rosier picture than found by members of the joint committee on human rights.’
Law Society's Gazette, 13th September 2018
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘A catalogue of disastrous consequences has followed a reduction in the scope of legal aid, including debt from high lawyers’ fees, possible ill-informed judicial decisions, and knock-on costs for other parts of the public sector, according to new research.’
Legal Futures, 10th September 2018
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘Families of the victims of serial killer Stephen Port say it is unfair that they have to pay for legal representation at inquests into their relatives’ deaths while the police can rely on public money for their costs.’
BBC News, 5th September 2018
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘The Legal Services Consumer Panel is ready to tell the government some “uncomfortable truths” about legal aid, its new chair has said.’
Legal Futures, 4th September 2018
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
© Inner Temple Library 2018