*/
The Ministry of Justice’s decision to push ahead with its two-tier contract model for criminal legal aid is of concern to all lawyers engaged in criminal defence work, Bar leaders have said.
The MoJ’s response to the consultation Transforming Legal Aid: Crime Duty Contracts was published on 27 November.
There were 3,942 responses to the whirlwind three-week survey, which was issued after the High Court found an earlier consultation “so unfair as to be unlawful”, because the Government did not disclose the reports from Otterburn Legal Consulting and KPMG on which it had relied in formulating its proposals.
Tenders for 527 duty provider contracts, two more than originally proposed, will be open until 29 January 2015. The MoJ has also confirmed its intention to implement a second fee cut of up to 8.75% in July 2015 for solicitors.
The Bar Council said the proposed changes would result in a “massive and irreversible dislocation in the market for criminal litigators, for no obvious benefit”.
The Criminal Bar Association said: “The changes made pursuant to the consultation are trivial and do not address the problems inherent in the proposals. The Government continues to rely on unreliable assumptions and has ignored the evidence and informed expert opinion.
“We remind the Government of the words of... Lord Faulks QC that, ‘the fat has been so far removed from the carcass of criminal legal aid that these further cuts really threaten our justice system’.”
There were 3,942 responses to the whirlwind three-week survey, which was issued after the High Court found an earlier consultation “so unfair as to be unlawful”, because the Government did not disclose the reports from Otterburn Legal Consulting and KPMG on which it had relied in formulating its proposals.
Tenders for 527 duty provider contracts, two more than originally proposed, will be open until 29 January 2015. The MoJ has also confirmed its intention to implement a second fee cut of up to 8.75% in July 2015 for solicitors.
The Bar Council said the proposed changes would result in a “massive and irreversible dislocation in the market for criminal litigators, for no obvious benefit”.
The Criminal Bar Association said: “The changes made pursuant to the consultation are trivial and do not address the problems inherent in the proposals. The Government continues to rely on unreliable assumptions and has ignored the evidence and informed expert opinion.
“We remind the Government of the words of... Lord Faulks QC that, ‘the fat has been so far removed from the carcass of criminal legal aid that these further cuts really threaten our justice system’.”
The Ministry of Justice’s decision to push ahead with its two-tier contract model for criminal legal aid is of concern to all lawyers engaged in criminal defence work, Bar leaders have said.
The MoJ’s response to the consultation Transforming Legal Aid: Crime Duty Contracts was published on 27 November.
The new Bar Council earnings report presents a collective challenge for the self-employed Bar, remote hearings are changing and Bar Conference is back next month
Launch of the Institute of Neurotechnology and Law
Paul Magrath of ICLR recalls the chequered history of law reporting prior to the 1865 establishment of a Council of Law Reporting
Leading drug, alcohol and DNA testing laboratory, AlphaBiolabs, has made a £500 donation to North West charity Child Concern as part of its Giving Back campaign
Gail Evans, Technical Trainer at AlphaBiolabs, examines the latest trends in illicit drug use as seen in the laboratory, from designer drugs to ‘unexpected’ substances in a donor’s sample
Louise Crush explores the value you can measure in monetary terms alongside the many non-tangible benefits to working with a financial adviser
Most of us like to think we would risk our career in order to meet our ethical obligations, so why have so many lawyers failed to hold the line? asks Flora Page
If your current practice environment is bringing you down, seek a new one. However daunting the change, it will be worth it, says Anon Barrister
Creating advocacy opportunities for juniors is now the expectation but not always easy to put into effect. Tom Mitcheson KC distils developing best practice from the Patents Court initiative already bearing fruit
National courts are now running the bulk of the world’s war crimes cases and corporate prosecutions are part of this growing trend, reports Chris Stephen
Let’s hear it for the assessors, says Dame Anne Rafferty of the KC Selection Panel. And to make silk assessors’ lives a little easier when applicants come calling in May, Dame Anne fields some commonly asked questions