News

An amended Family Graduated Fee (“FGF”) funding order came into force on 4 August, introducing several changes to the FGF scheme. These include: abolishing “more than two parties” Special Issue Payment (“SIP”) in public law cases; increasing base hearing fees for public law children cases; and reducing the uplift provided by the “conduct” SIP from 50 per cent to 30 per cent in private law children cases. 

THE Bar Council has welcomed the announcement by the Legal Services Commission that Best Value Tendering (BVT) will not be introduced before a full evaluation has been undertaken. This follows months of vocal opposition from the Bar Council, the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) and the Law Society against the LSC’s proposals. Having reviewed the submissions to its consultation issued in March, the LSC has recognised in its response published yesterday that the timetable for undertaking pilot schemes was too fast and would give insufficient time for a proper evaluation. Under revised arrangements, pilot schemes will operate for twelve to eighteen months before they are reviewed, with a proposed publication date for the review of August 2012 and no further implementation before 2013. The Bar is also pleased to see the LSC’s commitment to undertake a full review of the pilots before deciding whether there should be any further implementation. 

Despite yesterday’s announcement, the Bar remains concerned about the concept of BVT which the LSC’s response document does not address. The Bar says the LSC has failed to make the economic case for the introduction of BVT. It remains very concerned that the disruption to the provider base will outweigh any intended savings. The Bar remains extremely concerned about the absence of plans to a carry out a full impact assessment on BME and women practitioners during the pilots, since the expected adverse effects of the scheme will impact on these groups disproportionately. 

GOVERNMENT Ministers have acknowledged that controversial plans to impose fixed fees for legal representation for vulnerable families and children cannot proceed without “further analysis”. Justice Minister Lord Bach has told Parliament that further analysis would be required before it could publish final fee schemes for family legal aid and that more work would be undertaken over the summer to allow for the introduction of the new scheme in April 2010. Recent research by economic consultants Oxera and a report from the House of Commons Justice Committee have provided a stinging critique of the Legal Services Commission’s (‘LSC’) approach to reforming family legal aid, in particular, highlighting the fact that the proposals have been made on “incomplete data, [and] a superficial understanding of the supply of legal services in this area”. The Justice Committee condemned the LSC not only for its “flawed, weak and inflexible” approach but also for its “conclusions first, evidence after” approach to policy-making. 

THE Bar Council has today welcomed the report on family law reform, Every Family Matters, from the Centre for Social Justice, a leading think tank which is chaired by the Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP, the former Leader of the Conservative Party. The Centre for Social Justice’s latest family law report, which focuses on the breakdown of family life in modern Britain, and the way in which this is addressed by the legal system. 

The report’s recommendations include a clear statement that the Government must prioritise access to justice, saying: ‘Above all, we urge a belated recognition that access to justice, alongside healthcare and education, is an essential facet of civilised society’. The full press release is available on the Bar Council website. (www.barcouncil.org.uk) 

THE Bar is ready to redouble its efforts to promote fair access to the profession, Bar Council Chairman, Desmond Browne QC said today. 

His remarks come on the eve of the publication of the final report of the Panel on Fair Access to the Professions. The Panel is chaired by the former Cabinet Minister, Rt Hon Alan Milburn MP, and was commissioned by Gordon Brown in January 2009 to review the processes governing recruitment into the professions, and to make recommendations to the Government and the professions on action to improve access for all. The full press release is available on the Bar Council website (www.barcouncil.org.uk) 

After months of planning by a tireless committee, lead by James Cartwright and Robert Percival, the second Lawyers’ Cricket World Cup took place between 25 July and 4 August, writes Ian McDougall. 

“Critical barriers” to accessing civil legal aid still exist while the recession has fuelled demand, Citizens Advice has warned. 

Two regulations have recently been adopted establishing procedures for the negotiation, conclusion and variation of bi-lateral agreements between Member States and third countries, on respectively, applicable law in contractual and non-contractual obligations; and on jurisdiction, recognition and enforcement of judgments and decisions in family law areas. 

See: http://register.consilium.europa.eu/pdf/en/09/st10/st10250.en09.pdf 

The June JHA Council adopted a report on certain aspects flowing from the recent evaluation of the operation of the European Arrest Warrant, and called for more work to be done with a view to updating the rules. See pg 32 of
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/jha/108356.pdf 

The European Commission is consulting the public to determine whether International Standards on Auditing (ISAs) should be adopted
in the EU. The deadline is 15 September 2009. 

See: http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/auditing/isa/index_en.htm