Ukrainian refugee visa woes
Muhunthan Paramesvaran, chair of our immigration law committee, spoke to BBC Radio Newcastle (from 3:44:10) and BBC Radio Derby (15:31) about the difficult process facing Ukrainian refugees trying to get to the UK.
Christopher Cole, another member of the committee, also spoke to BBC Radio Shropshire (from 23:48) and BBC Radio Merseyside (from 54:23) about the visa process.
Criminal legal aid spend
The Gazette reports that only £10m out of a £51m urgent funding package to be injected into criminal legal aid has found its way to litigators and advocates.
A Law Society spokesperson said: "The fact that only a fraction of urgent, accelerated funding has found its way to criminal defence solicitors demonstrates the need to ensure that increased funding recommended in the independent review of criminal legal aid actually gets to our members as soon as possible."
Unacceptable court delays
There's more coverage of the Public Accounts Committee report questioning the UK government's 'modest ambition' for cutting Crown Court outstanding cases to 53,000.
Law Society president I. Stephanie Boyce is quoted by Solicitors Journal.
"Years of underinvestment and cuts mean there is a real risk that the capacity is simply not there in terms of solicitors and barristers, as well as judges, to do the large volume of work necessary to clear the backlog in a meaningful fashion," she said.
Read our release
Also worth a read:
- More law firms exit Russia - Gazette
- Could Putin be prosecuted for war crimes? - BBC
- Salary hikes in booming legal market – Legal Futures
- Watchdog warning over police recruitment plans - Independent