Rallying call

How does it feel to win Junior Lawyer of the Year?

I am delighted that, through my winning, the Justice Alliance film (www.youtube.com/justiceallianceuk), which has real stories from real people who were helped by legal aid, has received recognition.

Cuts to legal aid leads to victims of domestic violence being cross-examined by their abusers and removes the ability of the individual to effectively challenge unlawful actions by the government. Historic fights for justice like the Guildford Four, Stephen Lawrence, the Hillsborough Inquest, and the Gurkhas all involved legal aid lawyers.

Cuts to legal aid threaten not just the quality of legal advice and the ability of lawyers from all backgrounds to pursue a career in legal aid; they remove access to justice for the poorest and most vulnerable in society.

The future of legal aid is at crisis point. I hope I inspire other people to fight against the cuts that will get rid of equal justice for all and decimate the legal profession.

What can the rest of the profession do to follow
your lead?

It would be great if everyone did what they could to campaign against the cuts to legal aid. Just watching and sharing the Justice Alliance film, and getting everyone in your firm to sign the petition (www.change.org/p/nick-clegg-mp-save-legal-aid-to-protect-access-to-justice-for-all), makes a big difference. People can also write to their MPs and get involved in parliamentary lobbying and other campaign work.

How important is legal aid?

Legal aid is vital in a democratic society where we value the rule of law. The government and parts of the media are set on vilifying legal aid and human rights, manipulating the truth to meet their own ends.

However, people from all sides of the political spectrum oppose cuts to legal aid and scrapping the Human Rights Act. We must keep fighting to reverse the cuts to legal aid, prevent further cuts and to promote the importance of human rights.

How does it tie in with human rights?

Next year is the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta. The Magna Carta proclaims that: “To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice.”
It is the foundation of the freedom of the individual against the arbitrary authority of an oppressive state.

Access to justice must be an essential requirement of any legal system, but it cannot be effective without practical means to enforce legal rights, in the courts if necessary. This is why legal aid was introduced by the Legal Advice and Assistance Act 1949.

But now the Lord Chancellor Chris Grayling is cutting legal aid, removing individuals’ ability to challenge the state, he is undermining the rule of law.

These cuts will result in miscarriages of justice and will mean that legal challenges are not brought and wrongs are not righted. With the encroachment of secret justice into our legal system, this is another way the state is removing accountability for its actions. SJ

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