The government has failed in its attempt to promote fairer, quicker & cheaper justice, says Toby Craig
It seems far longer than 16 months since the government published its consultation documents on the reform of legal aid and civil litigation in November 2010. At that stage, it was clear that change was in the pipeline, but we had little idea of how it would present itself legislatively. As we now near the end of that legislative process, it seems an opportune moment to look back over an extended period of lobbying and engagement, during which a host of campaign groups sought to provide a voice for the many women, children and vulnerable people who will lose out from these reforms.
After numerous and wide-ranging consultation responses were received and duly ignored, the government published its own response last June, simultaneously giving the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill (or LASPO, the short-hand which is all too familiar to many battle-weary opponents) its first reading in the House of Commons. The Bill is
