Legal aid focus

Go to page of 48

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ), Legal Aid Agency and Deputy Prime Minister, Dominic Raab, have announced that solicitors will see a further £21m investment in fees and long-term reforms and an extra £138m will be spent annually on legal aid ‘to ensure long-term sustainability’.

The justice budget suffered a ‘real terms cut’ in the Autumn Statement this week, lawyers have warned, despite Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s pledge to protect public services.

Budget cuts, LASPO’s ten-year legacy and recent political decisions have devastated access to justice, according to a major piece of research by the Bar Council.

The Justice Committee will be examining the future of legal aid for criminal defence solicitors on Tuesday 14 November, when it takes evidence from representatives of the Criminal Law Solicitors Association and the Law Society.

The Law Society has warned that the government’s stance on criminal legal aid is driving solicitors to consider unionising to take direct action, following the barrister strike action earlier this year.

The cost-of-living crisis provided a focus for this year’s Pro Bono Week, with lawyers attending a wide range of events.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has announced that around 20,000 people facing debt difficulties will be invited to receive free early-stage legal advice through a new pilot launched by the government on 31 October 2022.

There is no better way to raise money than through the medium of cake—so why not hit the kitchen this Pro Bono Week to raise some dough for access to justice?

Ministers have published secondary legislation widening access to legal aid for victims of domestic abuse.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has announced changes to the legal aid system that will enable domestic abuse victims to obtain free legal advice through new Domestic Abuse Protection Notices and Domestic Abuse Protection Orders under the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 (DAA 2021).

Show

Results

Go to page of 48

E-newsletter Sign-Up

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All

Arc Pensions Law—Matthew Swynnerton

Chair of the Association of Pension Lawyers joins as partner

Ampa Group—Kamal Chauhan

Group names Shakespeare Martineau partner head of Sheffield office

Blake Morgan—four promotions

Four legal directors promoted to partner across UK offices

NEWS

Read All

NLJ this week: Renters’ Rights revolution begins—brace for tribunal chaos

The abolition of assured shorthold tenancies and section 21 evictions marks the beginning of a ‘brave new world’ for England’s rental sector, writes Daniel Bacon of Seddons GSC

NLJ this week: Civil procedure gets a spring overhaul

Stephen Gold’s latest Civil Way column rounds up a flurry of procedural and regulatory changes reshaping housing, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and personal injury litigation

NLJ this week: Why GP complaints are going nowhere

Patients are being systematically failed by an NHS complaints regime that is opaque, poorly enforced and often stacked against them, argues Charles Davey of The Barrister Group

NLJ this week: Prenups meet a jurisdictional brick wall

A wealthy Russian divorce battle has produced a sharp warning about trying to challenge foreign nuptial agreements in the wrong English court. Writing in NLJ this week, Vanessa Friend and Robert Jackson of Hodge Jones & Allen examine Timokhin v Timokhina, where the High Court enforced Russian judgments arising from a prenuptial agreement despite arguments based on the landmark Radmacher decision

NLJ this week: Has Rylands v Fletcher come back from the dead?

An obscure Victorian tort may be heading for an unexpected revival after a significant Privy Council ruling that could reshape liability for dangerous escapes, according to Richard Buckley, barrister and emeritus professor of law at the University of Reading

Error message

Legal aid focus

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Arc Pensions Law—Matthew Swynnerton

Ampa Group—Kamal Chauhan

Blake Morgan—four promotions