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07 July 2017 / Steve Hynes
Issue: 7753 / Categories: Opinion , Legal aid focus , Profession
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Justice denied revisited

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No other public service has suffered the same level of cuts as civil legal aid. Enough is enough, says Steve Hynes

Theresa May had a simply dreadful general election campaign and for many Jeremy Corbyn emerged the hero of the hour. The election result, an unexpected hung parliament, has changed the political calculations on what to expect next on legal policy.

Prison reform was one of the casualties of the slimmed down Queen’s Speech, but it looks like business as usual for the court reform programme. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has been busy working away at the digital upgrade of the courts and the policy enjoys cross-party support. With the reduced commons majority the government might have to make some concessions around the legal advice available to support the public using the service. There is also likely to be a bitter fight over their proposals to reform the law on whiplash injuries.

While the prime minister managed to get the Queen’s Speech agreed, a confident Labour opposition is arguing that the government

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Arc Pensions Law—Matthew Swynnerton

Arc Pensions Law—Matthew Swynnerton

Chair of the Association of Pension Lawyers joins as partner

Ampa Group—Kamal Chauhan

Ampa Group—Kamal Chauhan

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

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

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
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
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
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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