.
More legal aid protests planned
The publication of a second consultation on the government’s proposals for legal aid was announced by Justice Secretary Chris Grayling in a statement to the House of Commons on 5 September 2013: Transforming legal aid: next steps (Hansard HC Debates cols 492–494, 5 September 2013) (see also page 7 of this issue). However, a new version of the proposals was published on 3 October. It included corrections to the original version and extended the consultation deadline to 1 November. The proposals are a response to the original consultation in April and include a climb-down from the government on competitive tendering for criminal legal aid, which was negotiated with the Law Society over the summer.
In a press release issued on 5 September, Chris Grayling said: ‘I have listened to lawyers’ concerns and had constructive discussions with the Law Society. They acknowledge that, whilst it may be difficult, change is also inevitable. But it must be the right change that brings about the right outcomes. The proposals we have agreed make sure legally-aided lawyers will always be available when needed and that people can choose the lawyer they want to help them.’
While the Law Society remains opposed to the 17.5 per cent pay cut in the government’s proposals, Des Hudson, chief executive of the Law Society, believes that the agreement which the society reached with the government was the ‘least bad deal which could have been made’. It has been reported that some criminal lawyers, including the Criminal Bar Association, have been critical of the Law Society’s approach and are arguing for more protests against the government’s plans for legal aid.
The Justice Alliance, which comprises legal organisations, charities and other groups opposed to the legal aid cuts, organised a demonstration at the Conservative party conference in Manchester on 29 September. The alliance is also working with the protest group UK Uncut, which staged a number of ‘Road blocks for Justice’ against the legal aid cuts on 5 October. The largest demonstration was outside the Royal Courts of Justice (RCJ) in London. Protesters blocked the road outside the RCJ for several hours.
Matt Foot, a solicitor at Birnberg Peirce & Partners who is involved in organising the Justice Alliance, said: ‘The cuts suggested do not take into account the cuts we have already had, which took us back to 2007 rates.’ He also believes that the deal which was negotiated on solicitor duty rotas ‘would allow mainly the larger firms to remain and risks being competitive tendering by the back door’. Matt Foot believes that the allegations of sexual abuse of detainees at Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre show that asylum-seekers, prisoners and other vulnerable people ‘should not be left unprotected’.
In an interview with LAG, Simon Creighton, a partner at Bhatt Murphy Solicitors and a prison law specialist, condemned the government’s plan to end legal aid for many prison law cases as ‘ill thought out and a serious attack on the rule of law’. He pointed out that it will no longer be possible ‘for prisoners to obtain legal advice on crucial decisions, such as access to mother and baby units, resettlement issues or categorisation. No provision is to be made to allow legal aid to continue for vulnerable groups such as children, the mentally ill or those with learning disabilities’. Referring to the Woolf Report on prisons, Simon Creighton said that it was clear from its findings that closed institutions such as prisons need to be open to ‘independent scrutiny if they are to remain decent and humane places’.