Retained EU Law Bill
The Gazette covers the Law Society’s concerns about how legal uncertainty caused by the Retained EU Law Bill may affect economic stability in the UK.
Law Society President Lubna Shuja said the bill “raises uncomfortable questions for parliamentary sovereignty, legal certainty, and the rule of law.”
Deputy Vice President at Home Affairs Committee
Richard Atkinson, our Deputy Vice President, gave evidence at the Home Affairs select committee this week (1 February) on the state of the justice system, reports the Gazette and Practice Source.
He said: “I’ve already mentioned how, in the last five years, we’ve lost over 1,200 duty solicitors. The number of firms is collapsing. The number of young people coming forward is tiny.”
“The system is creaking in all aspects and it’s from decades of underfunding.”
Crown court delays
Coverage continues on the most recent release of government statistics on the criminal courts backlog, with local figures reported in the Bournemouth Daily Echo, Bishop’s Stortford Independent, Basingstoke Gazette, Andover Advertiser and Hampshire Chronicle.
Instructing more paralegals
Law Society statistics on the number of practising solicitors in the UK are referred to in a commentary which posits increasing the use of paralegals, seen in the Do Good Press.
Also worth a read:
- SRA report on legal sector tech risks – Solicitors Journal
- Civil legal aid in Wales – Gazette
- Lord Kitchen to retire – Legal Cheek
- Statutory inquiry into Omagh bombing – BBC
- Sunak’s immigration target with new laws – Guardian