News

THE Bar Council has welcomed the report on the procurement of criminal legal aid in England and Wales, which has been published by the National Audit Office (NAO). The NAO’s report examines the procurement of criminal legal aid by the Legal Services Commission (LSC), the body responsible for the distribution of the legal aid budget within England and Wales. 

The NAO’s report paints a picture of a chaotic, cuts-driven ‘reform’ programme being rolled out by the LSC, which threatens value for money and the provision of an essential public service. It warns of “confusion and duplication in the oversight of criminal legal aid”. 

The LSC is condemned for not understanding the market and for using “inaccurate and incomplete” data. The spending watchdog concludes that no further reforms to legal aid should proceed without having been properly piloted using guidance from the Office of Government Commerce. 

The report, which was considered by the House of Commons’ Public Accounts Committee in December, goes on to consider the cost drivers which affect legal aid and the LSC, saying that: 

“The cost of criminal legal aid provision is driven by a number of factors, including the complexities of the criminal justice system, and the level of crime, both of which are beyond the control of the Commission”. 

This is followed by concern on the part of the NAO that the LSC does not understand the market in which it operates, saying: “At present, gaps in the Commission’s knowledge about its supplier base prevent it from making the most of this position. In particular, we consider that the Commission has not marshalled the knowledge of its local managers well enough to develop a good understanding of the market for criminal legal aid, such as the cost structures of different types of firms and their profit margins”. Commenting on the report, the Chairman of the Bar, Nick Green QC, said: 

“The NAO has blown the whistle on the LSC’s cuts-driven, chaotic ‘reform’ programme, which must now be stopped so that any current proposals can be properly evaluated. Today’s report is a sad indictment of the state of the LSC and reflects the Bar Council’s concerns about the administration of legal aid. The LSC’s ‘reforms’ are disorganised and have not been evaluated. They threaten this fundamental service. When an NAO report states that ‘the Commission does not currently hold enough information centrally about its suppliers to be an intelligent commissioner’, it is time to rethink the way in which the Ministry of Justice and the LSC together run legal aid policy. These criticisms reinforce those set out by the Justice Committee in their July 2009 report on the LSC's consultation on family legal aid, where they noted the LSC's lack of an evidence base for their policies and called for the LSC to implement a fundamental shift in attitude toward such consultations. The Bar Council has always said that the justice system must serve those going through it. We support the NAO’s recommendation that all reforms to the legal aid system should be piloted using guidance from the Office of Government Commerce, in order to reduce the risk of irreversible and damaging cuts to the legal aid budget with little or no empirical evidence. We look forward to assisting the Public Accounts Committee with its recommendations to Parliament following the publication of this report.” 

Paul Mendelle QC, Chairman of the Criminal Bar Association, welcomed the NAO report, saying: 

“This report confirms what the Criminal Bar Association has told the Government time and again: that cuts to legal aid are unjustified and unprincipled, as legal aid expenditure is controlled and falling in real terms. The drivers of legal aid expenditure are the government’s own policies, not the actions of barristers. It also highlights that it is the LSC’s lack of data that has been the road block on the road to reform of the system for paying for Very High Cost Cases. The Government must rethink its policies otherwise it will do real and lasting damage to our criminal justice system.” 

Members of the Bar Standards Board and the Bar Council visited cities during January, and will continue in the first week of February, to speak at seminars. Barristers were invited to come and learn more about the new rules, announced by the Bar Standards Board on 20 November 2009, and discuss advantages the changes would bring and how the Bar may procure new business in the future. The following cities were visited (or will be visited): 

By the time of reading, the European Parliament will have opined on a proposal for the EU to conclude the 2007 International Convention aimed at ensuring a more effective recovery of child support and other forms of family (or similar relationship) maintenance. (Procedure reference CNS (2009)0100) See: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/activities/committees/draftReportsCom.do?language=EN&body=JURI

The Bar Standards Board has launched its Barristers’ Register. The Register is an online database displaying details of all barristers eligible to provide legal services in England and Wales. The Register can be viewed on the Board’s website at www.barstandardsboard.org.uk 

The Register will enable enquirers to ascertain whether a particular barrister is able to offer legal services through the provision of a clear and simple display of that individual’s status and practicing details. 

Barristers’ chambers have made a respectable debut in the Diversity League Tables. 

Chambers were included in the annual league table, run by the Black Solicitors Network, for the first time this year, with 23 out of 60 invited sets agreeing to take part. This year’s table expanded to capture data on sexual orientation and disability as well as gender and ethnicity. 

From 1 January 2010, second six pupils must have a practising certificate in order to exercise a right of audience. The Bar Standards Board has issued guidance on this matter to all pupils and pupil supervisors. 

When the relevant parts of the Legal Services Act 2007 came into force on the 1 January 2010, it became a criminal offence to undertake a reserved legal activity, such as exercising a right of audience without having in force a valid practising certificate. 

All pupils who are currently undertaking their second six months pupillage have now been sent a practising certificate. All pupils and pupil supervisors have been written to about the implications of these changes and guidance can be found on our website: 

The entry into force of the TFEU introduces a specific legal basis (Article 118) for the creation of European Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). Mindful of this, the Competitiveness Council has adopted Conclusions containing a package of measures, which together will form an Enhanced Patent System in Europe. These include: 

At  a packed South Eastern Circuit “road show” on 12 January Baroness Deech, Chair of the Bar Standards Board (“BSB”), described the changes made by the BSB last November to the way in which barristers can supply legal services as “the most important changes in this generation of the Bar”.  

She emphasised that she had no wish to preside over fusion and that the decisions were not driven by “the need of the Bar to earn a living”; but rather to  permit structures consistent with the principles in the Legal Services Act 2007.
The meeting was only one of several planned in the winter to test the views of the Bar on the way forward while Legal Services Board approval is pending on the proposed amendments to the Code. 

Retired Circuit Judge, Mota Singh QC, the first Sikh to be appointed a judge, received a knighthood for services to the administration of justice, community relations and to the voluntary sector, in the New Year’s Honours List. Circuit Judge Keith Cutler of Wiltshire and Circuit Judge David Fletcher of Merseyside, were awarded CBEs. Barrister Peter Herbert received an OBE for voluntary service to equality, diversity and human rights. Helen Morris, Crown Advocate, Merseyside and Cheshire, received an MBE.