Former justice minister Lord Bach is to review legal aid, looking at the impact and wider consequences of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO).
The Act removed legal aid from large areas of law in April 2013, including housing, family and immigration. Bach, currently a shadow justice minister, will present proposals for reform.
Bach was asked to carry out the review by the new shadow lord chancellor, Lord Falconer. Karl Turner MP, Labour’s shadow solicitor general, has also joined the justice team to work on legal aid and criminal justice issues. Turner practised as a criminal defence barrister before entering Parliament.
“Whatever your opinion of the new Labour leader [Jeremy Corbyn], his commitment to access to justice must be applauded,” writes NLJ columnist Jon Robins in this week’s issue.
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