Retained EU Law Bill
The Law Society’s views on the Retained EU Law Bill as it enters its final stage in the House of Commons is covered in Solicitors Journal, New Law Journal, Law 360 (£) and the Gazette.
Law Society President Lubna Shuja said: “As it stands the bill would entail bypassing parliamentary scrutiny and stakeholder consultation by giving Ministers the power to independently revoke, restate, replace or update retained EU law.
“The net result of this unnecessary haste and over-reach is likely to be a period of uncertainty over the status of regulations that would affect consumers, business, government departments and the courts.”
Law Society President at Justice Committee
President of the Law Society Lubna Shuja gave evidence on the future of legal aid at the Justice Committee session yesterday (18 Jan), reports the Gazette.
Watch Lubna give evidence from 14:32:00
Criminal legal aid pre-action protocol
The Times (£) covers the Law Society’s pre-action protocol letter to the government challenging its final response to Lord Bellamy’s review of criminal legal aid. Law Society President Lubna Shuja’s appearance at the Select Justice Committee to give evidence on the issues is also mentioned.
Legal aid popular with voters
New Law Journal reports the Law Society’s poll which found 84% of Conservative, 95% of Labour and 97% of Liberal Democrat voters in agreement that legal aid is a good thing.
Backlog fuels remand crisis
Law Society President Lubna Shuja is quoted in an article by New Law Journal responding to a recent report published by the Select Justice Committee on the growing number of prisoners held in custody on remand.
She said: “Solicitors repeatedly tell us about the difficulty of seeing clients in custody and there is a real danger of people not getting proper access to justice.”
Risks of spam texts
The Law Society’s Council Membership Committee member Gary Rycroft is seen on Rip Off Britain speaking about the risks of spam texts.
Also worth a read:
- Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary role – Legal Futures, Gazette
- Family law mediation vouchers - Gazette
- Scottish challenge over gender reform law - BBC
- International reactions to anti-strike laws - Guardian
- Extending SRA powers – Legal Futures