20 March 2024
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has delayed some of its proposed reforms to the legal aid means test until 2026, it confirmed last week
The test, which the MoJ reviewed in 2022, has not been updated in line with inflation since 2009. The delayed reforms include a ‘significant increase’ in income and capital thresholds.
Law Society president Nick Emmerson said: ‘The government is displaying a pattern of behaviour of refusing to commit resources to the justice system resulting in unmet legal need.’
However, the MoJ will this year introduce changes so that compensation payments for miscarriages of justice and certain other payments are no longer counted in the means test.
