Lord Bach’s proposed Justice Commission’ is a ‘quango’ that ‘this country does not need’ and his proposed Right to Justice Act is a ‘silly idea’, solicitor and NLJ columnist David Burrows writes in NLJ this week.
Lord Bach’s 50-page Right to Justice report was published to favourable reviews last month. Its headline recommendation was to create a ‘right to justice’ for individuals to receive reasonable legal assistance at a price they can afford.
It also proposed the creation of an independent Justice Commission to develop and enforce this right.
According to Burrows, however, what’s needed is a clearly-written Legal Aid Act not a Right to Justice Act. He writes: ‘The scope of legal aid is for the politicians to decide upon. The scope of justice? Never.’
On the proposed Justice Commission, Burrows says ‘judges do not need anyone—beyond the copious and ever-expanding case law—to monitor their work or to issue guidance to them’.
