Controversial reforms to civil & family law delayed until spring 2013
Lawyers have called for the delay in the legal aid reforms to be made permanent.
Justice Secretary Ken Clarke announced last week that the reforms to civil and family law legal aid are to be pushed back six months from next October to April 2013. The proposed reforms in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill remove legal aid from several areas of law, including clinical negligence, private family work, debt, benefits, housing and employment.
However, the parts of the Bill relating to Lord Justice Jackson’s civil costs reforms remain on schedule.
A Ministry of Justice (MoJ) spokesperson said: “As things stand, there are no changes to the timetable for implementation of civil costs reform.”
David Greene, a partner at Edwin Coe, says: “We can only hope that the barrage of criticism of these cuts to legal aid at the Lords stage of the Bill has had some permanent effect.
“If the government actually proposes to abandon the cuts, Ken Clarke should have the gumption to say so, rather than leaving many in a state of unknown. If the delay hides a climbdown, this is good news for access to justice for a significant section of society.”
According to the MoJ, the legal aid reforms have been delayed in order to give 12 months for a full contract tender process to take place once Parliament has confirmed the precise content of the Bill, which is unlikely to receive Royal Assent earlier than March 2012.
An MoJ spokesperson said: “New contracts to provide civil and family advice will be offered to lawyers in April 2013, which will give them sufficient time to consider the final details of the new legal aid scheme, which Parliament is expected to agree in spring 2012.”
Legal groups vowed to continue their campaign against the Bill, which moves to committee stage in the House of Lords on 20 December.
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