header-logo header-logo

Legal aid focus

Subscribe

Protests against the government’s civil legal aid changes are being planned by the Access to Justice Alliance. Members from various advice organisations will meet in Parliament on Monday 14 May to discuss their strategy.

The government’s plans for legal aid were dealt a serious blow this week after they were savaged by an influential parliamentary committee.

A Law Society plan to obtain a last-minute injunction to stay introduction of the unified legal aid contract has been dropped after counsel advised there were no grounds for such an application.

More than 1,000 legal aid solicitors took to the streets this week to protest against proposed changes to the legal aid system that they say will hit the poorest members of society.

The government has been attacked by lawyers across the board for trying to suppress a report that criticises the swingeing reforms planned for legal aid.

Unrealistic deadlines threaten to undermine government plans for restructuring family legal aid, warns Karen Mackay

In brief

A heart-warming tale illustrates the importance of legal aid in achieving justice, says Geoffrey Bindman

Show
10
Results
Results
10
Results

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Freeths—Rachel Crosier

Freeths—Rachel Crosier

Projects and rail practices strengthened by director hire in London

Bird & Bird—Gordon Moir

Bird & Bird—Gordon Moir

London tech and comms team boosted by telecoms and regulatory hires

DWF—Stephen Hickling

DWF—Stephen Hickling

Real estate team in Birmingham welcomes back returning partner

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’
back-to-top-scroll