LEGAL AID REVIEW
By Nicola Laver
A review by the Ministry of Justice of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 has acknowledged the savings achieved by reducing the legal aid budget may have just shifted the costs elsewhere in the system. In response, the government has promised a number of new measures such as £5m for 'innovative technologies' to assist with early dispute resolution and £3m to support litigants in person. The MoJ has also pledged to review the means-test threshold and the exceptional case funding process.