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Legal aid focus

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Keith Wilding explains the difference Law Centres make to individual lives
In a short series in the run-up to the December election, Jon Robins does some policy filtering & number crunching
The government’s sledgehammer approach to legal aid benefits neither access to justice nor the public purse, says Geoffrey Bindman
Civil law (non-family) barristers are waiting months, if not years, to be paid for work on legal aid high-cost cases, the Bar Council Remuneration Committee has said. 
The First Minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford, this week pledged to bring forward all the recommendations within the scope of the Welsh Assembly that were made by the Commission on Justice in Wales report, led by former Lord Chief Justice Lord Thomas, published on 24 October. 
Wales should have powers to appoint its own judges and run its own legal aid system, a major report chaired by former Lord Chief Justice, Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, has concluded.
Lord Justice Haddon-Cave and Lord Justice Gross have led a cohort of fundraisers along the Thames to raise more than £19,000 for free legal advice services.

The small claims system is too complicated for non-lawyers & needs simplifying, says Peter Thompson QC

The FDA trade union, which represents lawyers in the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), has handed the prime minister nearly 900 letters from the public calling on him to save the UK’s criminal justice system.
The Law Society is urging solicitors to write to the new Lord Chancellor about access to justice. 
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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Freeths—Rachel Crosier

Freeths—Rachel Crosier

Projects and rail practices strengthened by director hire in London

DWF—Stephen Hickling

DWF—Stephen Hickling

Real estate team in Birmingham welcomes back returning partner

Ward Hadaway—44 appointments

Ward Hadaway—44 appointments

Firm invests in national growth with 44 appointments across five offices

NEWS
The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 transformed criminal justice. Writing in NLJ this week, Ed Cape of UWE and Matthew Hardcastle and Sandra Paul of Kingsley Napley trace its ‘seismic impact’
Operational resilience is no longer optional. Writing in NLJ this week, Emma Radmore and Michael Lewis of Womble Bond Dickinson explain how UK regulators expect firms to identify ‘important business services’ that could cause ‘intolerable levels of harm’ if disrupted
Criminal juries may be convicting—or acquitting—on a misunderstanding. Writing in NLJ this week Paul McKeown, Adrian Keane and Sally Stares of The City Law School and LSE report troubling survey findings on the meaning of ‘sure’
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has narrowly preserved a key weapon in its anti-corruption arsenal. In this week's NLJ, Jonathan Fisher KC of Red Lion Chambers examines Guralp Systems Ltd v SFO, in which the High Court ruled that a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) remained in force despite the company’s failure to disgorge £2m by the stated deadline
As the drip-feed of Epstein disclosures fuels ‘collateral damage’, the rush to cry misconduct in public office may be premature. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke of Hill Dickinson warns that the offence is no catch-all for political embarrassment. It demands a ‘grave departure’ from proper standards, an ‘abuse of the public’s trust’ and conduct ‘sufficiently serious to warrant criminal punishment’
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