The shaken foundations of the legal system

“We shall sell to no man Justice or Right; We shall deny to no man Justice or Right; We shall defer to no man Justice or Right”. I am of course referring to the Great Charter (Magna Carta) of 1215, the foundations on which English liberties rest.

These famous words seem to carry even more poignancy following recent government proposals to dramatically increase court fees. The plans, which have caused the senior judiciary to erupt in a rallying outcry, make for very stark reading and raise grave concerns about the future of our legal system and, indeed, our society.

There is the sense of impending doom which heralds such ill-thought-through, impulsive and irrational changes. Unfortunately, it seems that this is becoming an increasingly familiar and unwelcome companion for those of us operating in the legal sector. These turbulent tides of change that threaten to sweep away centuries-old commitment to the provision of justice for all are gradually becoming more common. This latest change is one such dangerous swirling current which could endanger some of our most important human rights.

Securing a society where respect for equality and due process guides the behaviour of our decision-makers is one of the bedrocks of true civilisation and effective access to justice is a key cornerstone of this. By turning justice into a commodity, these proposals push us closer to the edge of an abyss, where people’s fundamental rights are under threat.

The system has already played its part in failing some of our most vulnerable members of society following the withdrawal of legal aid for the majority of public law cases. As a result we now have a whole new class of untutored litigants in person floundering in a civil justice system that the government boasts they will make efficient and cost effective. In fact, every step they take is so misconceived and poorly thought out that the eventual impact causes the complete opposite.

I have no doubt that such changes will leave a significant percentage of the population searching for other means to obtain justice as many sacrifice legal representation in order to pay the fees, a situation that would push the already stretched court system to the limit. Even now the problems with self-representation are clear.

As lawyers, we are often placed under the spotlight and held to question in relation to proportionality of our costs, when the real issue of proportionality in terms of obscene fee hikes makes a mockery of it all.

In this vein, the very real threat of changing the cost structure of a market with such importance to the UK economy is one that should not be overlooked. The introduction of fees that will shackle our internationally-renowned legal system, rendering it uncompetitive and redundant, is short-sighted and inadvisable. This will inflict significant damage on one of our most respected and lucrative industries, and there is little doubt that this increase in fees will trigger commercial work moving elsewhere.

There is a real concern that if the government drives disputes away from the courts by an excessive fee structure just to make blind justice pay her share of reducing the national deficit, then this will in the end result
in the closure of courts and decimate 800 years representing the gains of Magna Carta.
I fear for what will be left of
our system.SJ

David Kirwan is senior partner at Kirwans

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