Law Society Justice Committee evidence
The Gazette continues coverage of Law Society Head of Justice Richard Miller’s evidence on criminal legal aid to the Justice Select Committee.
Richard Miller said: “The government should hope like hell firms are militant because the alternative is they just quietly quit as they have been doing in huge numbers every month. When you get the figures, you see more firms stop doing this work.
“It’s far more encouraging if they are still fighting, still desperately want to carry on doing this work, still want to persuade the government that it is viable rather than just walking away which is what too often we are seeing.”
Business Mayor also reports on the Law Society’s evidence presented at the justice committee.
Autumn statement speculation
The Law Society urged the government to protect justice spending ahead of today’s autumn statement, as reported by the Gazette.
Nick Emmerson, Vice President of the Law Society, is quoted as saying: “This is crunch-time for the UK’s justice system and the government should commit to protecting spending on justice at least at the levels announced at the last spending review.
“There are huge backlogs in our courts, vast legal aid deserts across England and Wales and underpaid and overworked solicitors leaving legal aid work in their droves.
“The government should commit to implementing the rise recommended by the Bellamy report for the fees which government pays solicitors for criminal legal aid work.”
SRA fining powers
The Gazette Ireland and LawCareers.net examine the Law Society’s response to the SRA’s increased fining powers, including criticism regarding the lack of fairness and transparency inherent in the changes.
The Law Society response is cited: “We firmly believe that it would be unfair for the SRA not to make any inquiry about an individual’s means, and thereby the real affordability to pay any fine imposed by the SRA.”
Legal Futures also analyses the expansion of the SRA’s maximum fine and mentions the Law Society’s concern that these fees are “excessive” and “unjustified.”
Bill of Rights
Justice Gap reports the Law Society’s concerns about the Bill of Rights. The Law Society is said to be “highly concerned” about the proposed bill’s detrimental impact on UK courts, access to justice, and the ability of individuals to hold the state to account.
Criminal legal aid
Our policy & regulatory affairs committee (PRAC) Chair Jonathan Goldsmith advocates for the need for government investment in criminal legal aid in the Gazette.
Goldsmith quotes Lubna Shuja, Law Society President, as “rightly” contending: “If the government doesn’t give solicitors parity when its full response to the review is published later this month, we will make it clear to our members that there is no viable future in criminal legal aid work.”
Prison law
Dr Laura Janes, a member of the Law Society’ criminal law committee, spoke to the Times (£) about the important work that prison law specialist solicitors do and how prison law work has been excluded from any increase in criminal legal aid rates.
Janes states: “Something must be done to recognise the value of prison lawyers by paying them properly. Unless that happens, it is doubtful that there will be any practitioners left to ensure that prisoners can be released safely and promptly, avoiding unnecessary harm to them, their families and the public purse.”
Council for Licensed Conveyancers fee freeze
The Gazette mentions the Law Society in revealing that the Council for Licensed Conveyancers has announced it is freezing its practising fees in its battle to become the ‘regulator of choice.’
Retained EU Law Bill
UK Human Rights Blog cites the Law Society’s concern that the Retained EU Law Bill could have a detrimental impact on legal certainty in the UK.
Also worth a read:
- Autumn Statement updates - BBC
- “No-show” prosecution barristers – the Telegraph (£)
- Conflict over hybrid working policies at law firms – Legal Cheek
- Public Order Bill mutes protests – the Times (£)
- More rail strikes – BBC, Guardian