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Judicial review victory for legal aid firms
Four legal aid firms and the charity Shelter have won a significant victory in their fight against the government’s attempt to restrict legal aid in judicial review cases.
Last month, the Divisional Court ruled that the government’s amendment to the regulation
1Civil Legal Aid (Remuneration) (Amendment) (No 3) Regulations 2014 SI No 607. on the payment of civil legal aid in judicial review cases was illegal. The regulations, which came into force in April last year, removed guaranteed legal aid payments in cases against government bodies unless permission had been granted by the court. The organisations which brought the challenge feared that the regulations would have a ‘chilling effect’ as they would make it difficult for the public to find lawyers willing to take on cases with no guarantee of payment.
Nicola Mackintosh QC (Hon), of Mackintosh Law, one of the claimants who brought the challenge, welcomed the court’s decision. Mackintosh believes that, ‘judicial review is a vital tool to be able to challenge decisions of the state and make public bodies including government accountable’. She stressed the importance of legal aid in such cases as without it people ‘cannot afford to pay, and justice is denied’.
Ben Hoare Bell, Deighton Pierce Glynn and Public Law Solicitors were the other firms who took the case. They were represented by the Public Law Project, and Martin Westgate QC and Martha Spurrier of Doughty Street Chambers.
•A final judgment by the Court of Appeal is expected around the time Legal Action goes to press in the judicial review cases on the government’s controversial plans to reduced the number of duty contracts for criminal legal aid work to 527 (around 16,000 firms currently operate the contracts). If the Criminal Law Solicitors Association, London Criminal Courts Solicitors Association and Law Society lose the case, the government is expected to continue with the tender round which was suspended pending the outcome of the cases.