37 days to go - In which the legal aid vanishes into thin air!

31/03/15

Dear Claire,

For today's topic, let's look at the subject of last night's Panorama documentary on BBC1, the removal of legal aid for several areas of law.The programme is available in iPlayer if you didn't see it: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/search?q=Panorama

 

Cuts to legal aid in England and Wales came into effect in 2013, removing funding from entire areas of civil law including family cases, advice on social welfare benefits, debt and housing problems.

The government says it will save £350m from a £2.1bn budget.

Last night's documentary was interesting to see how people with no legal experience struggled with the arcane and labyrinthine procedures needed to navigate the average court case. One lady in particular, trying to get custody over her own daughter after a bout of depression, was utterly unable to make any progress. Can you imagine what it must have been like for her? How intimidating and scary it must have been to come up against proper legal representation from the other side.

I know £350m is a lot of money, but the many billions avoided in corporation tax would surely be a better pot to try and save money from. Far more lucrative as well I should think.

In last night's programme, Sir Alan Moses, a former court of appeal judge said "I'm convinced that these cuts result in more serious miscarriages of justice" and "In measuring these cost savings, no account is given to the increase in court time that lack of legal representation leads to".

Judge Nicholas Crichton, who presided over a case in which a victim of abuse had to cross-examine her abuser in court said "It's shocking that someone should have to cross-examine their abuser".

Sadiq Kahn, Shadow Secretary of State for Justice, said "We're horrified at the Government's cuts in legal aid, denying justice to the most vulnerable in society."

Well, that's all for today. Food for thought eh?

Kind regards

Polly