Government proposals are “muddled” & could breach human rights warn barristers
The Bar has attacked government proposals for legal aid reform as “muddled” and economically flawed, in a detailed 150-page consultation response.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) consultation, Transforming Legal Aid, has mobilised widespread opposition—the latest demonstration took place outside Parliament this week, and more than 45,000 people have signed a petition against the proposals, created by the Bar Council and campaigning community 38 Degrees.
The proposed reforms would pay lawyers the same fee whether the defendant pleaded guilty or not guilty, introduce price competitive tendering (PCT) for criminal work, cut prisoners’ rights to legal aid, and remove the client’s right to choose their solicitor, in a bid to cut £220m from the annual budget. The MoJ wants to cut the number of legal aid providers from 1,600 to 400.
The Bar Standards Board has warned the proposals give lawyers an incentive to encourage defendants to enter guilty pleas because they take less time.
In its response this week, the Bar Council warns removing client choice could breach human rights, and PCT could incentivise low quality service and result in further changes to civil legal aid hitting the poorest people in society.
The Bar Council commissioned economic analysis from Professor Martin Chalkley, University of York, and Bob Young, Principal, Europe Economics, London, which concluded the MoJ’s thinking was “muddled”, that it has “failed to consider hard evidence”, and that the proposals are “a breathtakingly convoluted way of finding...savings”.
Further academic analysis by Professor Roger Bowles, University of York, suggests savings are being made anyway and this intervention is not needed. It states that “on current caseload and spending per case trends, a substantial saving in total expenditure on criminal legal aid might be expected over the next four to five years even if no other changes to the system were to be made”.
Maura McGowan QC, Chair of the Bar, says: “PCT may look as though it achieves short-term savings, but it is a blunt instrument that will leave deep scars on our justice system for far longer.”
A Bar Council and ComRes poll in May showed the British public values legal aid and is concerned about the impact of the government’s proposals.
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