Criminal court backlog
The Independent, Daily Mail, Evening Standard, City A.M. and more than 400 regional publications report on the latest criminal court backlog figures.
The number of outstanding cases in the Crown Court – 66,547 – is the highest on record.
Law Society president Nick Emmerson said: “The criminal justice system is withering at the root due to decades of underinvestment and the government’s failure to tackle the crisis.
“Delays in the courts are being compounded by a chronic shortage of lawyers and judges, overrun prisons and courts in disrepair. The increase in the number of people on remand for long periods awaiting trial is extremely concerning.”
Judicial review
Gazette continues coverage of our judicial review against the government over criminal legal aid fees, with evidence about the poor working conditions and remuneration for criminal defence solicitors.
The hearing ended yesterday, and the judges are set to give their ruling in the New Year.
Rwanda bill controversy
Channel 4 Fact Check looks at the Rwanda bill and why it is still controversial.
Law Society chief executive Ian Jeffery said: “The bill creates a statutory obligation that every decision maker, including the courts, must treat Rwanda as a safe country.
“In doing so, it is seeking to avoid an evidence-based finding of fact confirmed by the Supreme Court, the highest court in the United Kingdom.
“This is damaging to both the rule of law and the constitutional separation of powers. While parliament has the right to respond to a court judgment by passing legislation to change a point of domestic law, it cannot use law to change fact.”
Temporary accommodation a grim reality for children this Christmas
Solicitors Journal reports on our concerns that thousands of children face being evicted from their homes and spending Christmas in temporary accommodation when early legal advice could have avoided this.
Law Society president Nick Emmerson said: “It is unacceptable that thousands of children and their families will have to celebrate Christmas in temporary accommodation, when they may have been able to remain in their homes if early legal advice had been provided.
“The increasing cost-of-living and high interest rates have heavily impacted people’s ability to afford their homes, so it is critical people are able to access legal help for their housing issues.
“Yet our research has found that 25.3m people (42%) do not have a local legal aid provider for housing advice.”
Electronic wills
Jade Gani, a member of our Wills and Equity Committee, spoke to BBC Shropshire about electronic wills and our response to wills reform (from 1:41:23).
Renters Reform Bill
Property Reporter covers the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Private Rented Sector warning that certain provisions in the Renters Reform Bill, including the ban on “no-fault” evictions, will fail without enforcement. The piece mentions the Law Society view on the Bill.
Also worth a read:
- One person dies after refugee boat in Channel runs into difficulty – Guardian
- Duke of Sussex to find out rulings on hacking claims – BBC
- Only slightly more than a quarter of full-equity partners at the country’s largest law firms are women – Times (£)
- A day in court where “no-fault” evictions reach 10 an hour – Guardian