Government is failing its responsibility to ensure access to justice

Cuts to legal aid have undermined the role solicitors play in helping people assert their legal rights, the Law Society has told Lord Bach's review of legal aid.

The Bach Commission is chaired by the shadow justice minister, with the aim of amassing submissions from legal experts and compiling evidence-based proposals on how to restore access to legal information, advice, and representation.

Submitting written evidence to the 13-strong commission panel, Chancery Lane warned that cuts to civil legal aid will lead to an increased cost to the tax payer because failure to get early expert advice can result in an escalation of a legal issue.

The Law Society's president, Jonathan Smithers, lamented how successive governments had repeatedly cut back the legal aid budget, which had resulted in a two-tier justice system weighted in favour of those with means.

'There is an imbalance of power and knowledge when legal advice is solely available to wealthy individuals, corporations, and state bodies and not to ordinary people,' he said.

'Early legal advice can forestall an escalating sequence of problems that in extreme cases can result in issues like homelessness. Prompt intervention can also help people to find a solution that doesn't involve the courts.'

Smithers argued that the government has failed in its fundamental responsibility to ensure access to justice is available when there is no other realistic option for the public.

'Parliament wanted domestic abuse victims to have legal aid for family law matters,' he explained. 'Domestic violence is supposed to be within the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO). But in seeking to limit the numbers of claims for legal help, a bureaucracy has been created out of all proportion to the actual savings.'

The society's president opined that the capital means test for benefit claimants and evidential burdens for domestic violence, which determine who qualifies for legal aid help, were preventing victims of domestic abuse from accessing legal aid in family cases.

'When no other realistic option exists for someone to assert their legal rights, funding from government must be available,' he asserted.

Smithers also reiterated the Law Society's position that proposals for digital courts may help improve access to justice but would not be a panacea for the issues affecting society and the court system.

In an exclusive interview with SJ, the special adviser to Lord Bach, John Cooper QC, explained that in addition to hearing from a wide catchment area of legal service providers with a stake in the provision of justice, the commission will also be looking at 'broader blue sky issues' and how to ensure legal aid is at the forefront of public debate.

Once completed, the commission's findings will be considered by Labour's policy review.