Legal aid is safe where it matters most – The Guardian
“My legal aid reforms – debated in the Lords tomorrow – pose a threat to a failing system and outdated practices, not the needy.”
The Guardian, 19th December 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Category: legal aid
Lord Tebbit in bid to save legal aid for children’s medical negligence cases – Daily Telegraph
“Former Thatcherite minister Lord Tebbit is among a group of peers trying to save legal aid for children’s medical negligence cases.”
Daily Telegraph, 20th December 2011
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Bar Council Calls on Government to Support Principle of Contingent Legal Aid Fund – The Bar Council
“The Bar Council, which represents barristers in England and Wales, has today published a report it commissioned from economic consultants Europe Economics, which has found that the concept of Contingent Legal Aid Funds (CLAF) has merit and should be taken forward as one of a number of sources of potential funding for civil litigation.”
The Bar Council, 13th December 2011
Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk
The legal aid bill must be cut. Here’s how – The Guardian
“Legal aid became bloated and inefficient. What’s needed is a better network of law centres and Citizens Advice Bureaux.”
The Guardian, 13th December 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Pro bono cannot plug the gap left by legal aid cuts – The Guardian
“Without decrying the achievements of voluntary legal work, let’s keep a sense of proportion.”
The Guardian, 7th December 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Legal advice for migrants and refugees is already patchy – The Guardian
“Local authority cuts have hit some areas of London hard, and further cuts would have disastrous consequences.”
The Guardian, 6th December 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Kenneth Clarke delays £350m legal aid cuts – The Guardian
“Kenneth Clarke’s plans to slice £350m out of the annual legal aid budget appear to be losing momentum after the justice secretary unexpectedly announced a six-month delay to the programme.”
The Guardian, 1st December 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Family judges must take bigger role to curb court battlegrounds – Daily Telegraph
“Judges should take a more active role in family cases to stop them becoming ‘battlegrounds’ for warring parents who use children as ‘ammunition’, one of the country’s most senior judges said.”
Daily Telegraph, 1st December 2011
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Changing the culture – Speech by Sir Nicholas Wall, President of the Family Division
Changing the culture (PDF)
Speech by Sir Nicholas Wall, President of the Family Division
The Law Reform Committee of the Bar Council, 29th November 2011
Source: www.judiciary.gov.uk
Legal aid reform prompts further protest from top judges – The Guardian
“Two more senior judges have publicly joined the chorus of those urging the government to rethink proposals to restrict legal aid, branding the plans a false economy and impediment to swift justice.”
The Guardian, 29th November 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Lady Hale warns of consequences of legal aid cuts – The Guardian
“The supreme court judge’s speech to the Law Centres Federation’s conference on the effects of the government’s proposed legal aid bill.”
The Guardian, 28th November 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Lords give legal aid bill ‘a good bashing’ – The Guardian
“In a marathon debate, the Lords focused on government plans to surgically remove the area of the legal aid scheme that relates most directly to the poor and vulnerable.”
The Guardian, 23rd November 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Reading between the Lies – what are we to do with fraudulent claims? – Hardwicke Chambers
“On the 9th of September, the Government declared its intent to tackle the ‘compensation culture’. This phrase, hitherto unknown prior to the removal of legal aid, now appears to typify an apparent endemic problem which is at the centre of the legal political agenda. The debate on the ‘compensation culture’ is now the focus of lobbying by insurers, claimant and defendant firms, unions and human rights organisations who wish either to validate or undermine the concept. Characterised as representing either the ills of society or the self interested protests of the few it has thus far proved impervious to eradication.”
Hardwicke Chambers, 17th November 2011
Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk
“Is this possible?” – The Guardian
“Highlights from the Lords debate on the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders bill, in which 54 peers spoke.”
The Guardian, 22nd November 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Majority verdict: we already have a bill of rights – The Guardian
“Adam Wagner examines some of the responses to the consultation on a UK bill of rights.”
The Guardian, 22nd November 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Lords tear into legal aid bill – Law Society’s Gazette
“The Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders passed its second reading in the House of Lords last night after an eight-hour battering from peers. Following a debate in which 51 of the 54 members who rose to speak criticised the bill, justice minister Lord McNally, responding for the government, promised ‘to listen’ to the ‘strong concerns’ raised particularly in relation to domestic violence and clinical negligence.”
Law Society’s Gazette, 22nd November 2011
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
