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23 January 2026 / David Greene
Issue: 8146 / Categories: Opinion , Legal aid focus , Legal services , Litigation funding
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‘The Ministry of Justice (for Certain People)’

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Will access to justice gain a much-needed boost in 2026? David Greene fears that the signs are not looking promising

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and the Commons’ Justice Committee are both examining the justice system and access to justice for citizens.

The PAC reported this month in scathing terms on the work of Ministry of Justice (MoJ) regarding legal aid. To loud support from practitioners, the PAC concluded that the ministry is not doing enough to understand the impact of its reforms, which removed access to most early legal advice over a decade ago, nor to ensure the future sustainability of the legal aid market following historic cuts to the legal aid budget and present-day restrictions—some rates for representatives have not been increased for 30 years. The chair of the PAC, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, suggested renaming the Ministry of Justice as ‘the Ministry of Justice (for Certain People)’.

The Justice Committee, now chaired by former barrister Andy Slaughter, is conducting a formal inquiry into access

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

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Arc Pensions Law—Matthew Swynnerton

Arc Pensions Law—Matthew Swynnerton

Chair of the Association of Pension Lawyers joins as partner

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Group names Shakespeare Martineau partner head of Sheffield office

Blake Morgan—four promotions

Blake Morgan—four promotions

Four legal directors promoted to partner across UK offices

NEWS
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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
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