header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us
11 June 2009 / Roger Smith
Issue: 7373 / Categories: Features , Profession
printer mail-detail

Book reviews: The Justice Gap: whatever happened to legal aid?

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.

Back Page Reviews

 

 

 

The Justice Gap: whatever happened to legal aid?

Steve Hynes and Jon Robins, pp171

Legal Action Group, £20, ISBN: 9781903307632

 
This is just the kind of book that the Legal Action Group (LAG) ought to publish. It is clearly written; provides a good account of the history of legal aid; analyses its current problems; searches for solutions. Legal aid practitioners will probably say that they are too busy surviving on meagre levels of pay to read it. But, if their remuneration is not to be reduced yet further, those who defend access to justice have to find a language and a set of ideas which will get legal aid the priority that it deserves.

Understandably, the book spends most of its time discussing events under the Labour government since 1997. Critical in general though they are, the authors are occasionally over-generous. The Community Legal Service (CLS) was a slogan dreamt up on the back of a fag packet by Paul Boateng

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All
Sponsored by
NLJ Career Profile: Nikki Bowker, Devonshires

NLJ Career Profile: Nikki Bowker, Devonshires

Nikki Bowker, head of litigation and dispute resolution at Devonshires, on career resilience, diversity in law and channelling Elle Woods when the pressure is on

Ellisons—Sarah Osborne

Ellisons—Sarah Osborne

Leasehold enfranchisement specialist joins residential property team

DWF—Chris Air

DWF—Chris Air

Firm strengthens commercial team in Manchester with partner appointment

NEWS
Read All
NLJ this week: ‘Joe Donor’ ruling exposes dangers of unregulated conception
The High Court’s refusal to recognise a prolific sperm donor as a child’s legal parent has highlighted the risks of informal conception arrangements, according to Liam Hurren, associate at Kingsley Napley, in NLJ this week
NLJ this week: CILEX warns Mazur ruling must spark reform
The Court of Appeal’s decision in Mazur may have settled questions around litigation supervision, but the profession should not simply ‘move on’, argues Jennifer Coupland, CEO of CILEX, in this week's NLJ
NLJ this week: Conditional job offers carry hidden risks for employers
A simple phrase like ‘subject to references’ may not protect employers as much as they think. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, analyses recent employment cases showing how conditional job offers can still create binding contracts
NLJ this week: Diamond rings and broken promises

An engagement ring may symbolise romance, but the courts remain decidedly practical about who keeps it after a split, writes Mark Pawlowski, barrister and professor emeritus of property law at the University of Greenwich, in this week's NLJ

NLJ this week: The battle over medical report fees intensifies
Medical reporting organisation fees have become ‘the final battleground’ in modern costs litigation, says Kris Kilsby, costs lawyer at Peak Costs and council member of the Association of Costs Lawyers, in this week's NLJ
Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll