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17 May 2007 / David Burrows
Issue: 7273 / Categories: Opinion , Legal aid focus
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Half-baked reforms

David Burrows reports from the legal aid family law barricades

On 1 May 2007 the House of Commons Constitutional Affairs Select Committee published its report, Implementation of the Carter Review of Legal Aid, which the Law Society characterises as mirroring its own concerns and Resolution describes as “right on the money”.

By what criteria should the report be judged? Not first by the pocket of the lawyer. First must be the needs of the public, the people we advise and assist. We must be able to do so to a standard where clients are guaranteed a service of a good and, where need be, expert standard. But if that is not paid for then the lawyer will look elsewhere for his work: if you do not pay your dentist, builder, surgeon or plumber enough they won’t work for you. Reduce pay to subsistence levels and you get subsistence service; and your drains or your heart won’t work for long.

labour ideas

The story so far is that early in Tony Blair’s first term his former

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

42BR Barristers—4 Brick Court

42BR Barristers—4 Brick Court

42BR Barristers to be joined by leading family law set, 4 Brick Court, this summer

Winckworth Sherwood—Rubianka Winspear

Winckworth Sherwood—Rubianka Winspear

Real estate and construction energy offering boosted by partner hire

Gateley Legal—Daniel Walsh

Gateley Legal—Daniel Walsh

Firm bolsters real estate team with partner hire in Birmingham

NEWS
A wave of housing and procedural reforms is set to test the limits of tribunal capacity. In his latest Civil Way column for NLJ this week, Stephen Gold charts sweeping change as the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 begins biting
Plans to reduce jury trials risk missing the real problem in the criminal justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, David Wolchover of Ridgeway Chambers argues the crown court backlog is fuelled not by juries but weak cases slipping through a flawed ‘50%’ prosecution test
Emerging technologies may soon transform how courts determine truth in deeply personal disputes. In this week's NLJ, Madhavi Kabra of 1 Hare Court and Harry Lambert of Outer Temple Chambers explore how neurotechnology could reshape family law
A controversial protest case has reignited debate over the limits of free expression. In NLJ this week, Nicholas Dobson examines a Quran-burning incident testing public order law
The courts have drawn a firm line under attempts to extend arbitration appeals. Writing in NLJ this week, Masood Ahmed of the University of Leicester highlights that if the High Court refuses permission under s 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996, that is the end
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