Legal aid lawyers have laid out plans to roll back the ‘damage caused by LASPO [Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012] cuts’.
A manifesto published by the Legal Aid Practitioners Group proposes detailed reforms in 16 areas of law, ranging from actions against the state, to crime, to mental health and welfare benefits. It highlights the need to save money by simplifying processes.
Proposals include reinstating early legal advice, a practitioner-led review of inefficiencies and waste in the criminal justice system, replacing the Legal Aid Agency with an independent body, and restoring legal aid in some family, housing, welfare benefits, employment, inquests, prison and immigration law cases.
Writing in the foreword, LAPG co-chairs Jenny Beck and Nicola Mackintosh QC (Hon) say: ‘People fleeing domestic abuse cannot obtain the protection they need... Unlawful decision making by public bodies goes unchallenged. The legal aid practitioners who provide the advice and the representation are at risk of extinction.’
Last month, former Justice minister Lord Bach’s report into legal aid found that LASPO cuts have gone too far, and called for an independent body to replace the Legal Aid Agency.
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