Chronicle of a death foretold (Pt 2)

Legal aid cuts are only one of a number of areas where the government has deliberately restricted access to justice by means of costs. Other examples include the introduction of employment tribunal fees in July 2013 and the up to 600% increase in court fees (9 March 2015). The increase in court fees was not just to cover costs but to make a profit out of the court system so as to subsidise other government expenditure. In introducing the Civil Proceedings and Family Proceedings Fees (Amendment) Order 2015 (SI 2015/576), Lord Faulks, the then Justice Minister said: “The purpose of this draft order is to introduce enhanced fees to commence certain proceedings for the recovery of money in the courts of England and Wales…Enhanced fees are fees that are set above the costs of the proceedings to which they relate…The order also fixes three fees that are already currently above cost.”