One of the
main concerns raised following the cuts to Legal aid has been that parties in both
criminal and civil proceedings will end up having to represent themselves in
court. The impact of this is already being felt across the courts system.
Family
Courts are reporting a steep rise in the umbers who are representing themselves.
This in
turn leads to long delays. Most lawyers and judges agree that a case involving Litigants
in Person will normally take twice the time of one where the parties have
lawyers. It can also lead to outrageous consequences for those parties. One
victim of rape was recently, on the verge of being cross-examined by her attacker
who did not have legal aid. Legal Aid was only granted following the threat of
Judicial Review Proceedings against the Legal Aid Agency.
http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/law/legal-aid-ruling-saves-rape-victim-from-court-trauma/5040839.article
But the
most embarrassing moment for the government has to be the Crown Court decision
in Southwark today. This was a major fraud trial involving eight defendants. Due
to the recent cuts in Legal Aid the Defendants were unable to get suitable
legal representation for their Trial. It was argued, on their behalf that they
would not get a fair trial. The Judge agreed and halted the Trial. He accepted
that substantial efforts had been made to find a barrister to represent them. He
said that it would be a violation of the legal process if they had to represent
themselves.
To deprive someone of
legal representation is indeed a violation of our rights as citizens.
What is embarrassing
for the Ministry of Justice is that the application to halt the trial was made
by Alex Cameron QC – the brother of our own PM, who was acting free of charge. He
told the court –
"The state has failed to provide adequate
representation to allow the trial to take place…a stay is exceptional, but so
is lack of representation in this country. We are worried about a fair trial.
It's not the fault of the FCA but we do [blame] the state more widely."
Will these words of reason from a source close to home lead
to a change of heart by the government?
Who knows? But
it certainly raises a further question mark over the future of Minister of Justice Chris Grayling who has
simply got it wrong and refuses to admit it.
Maybe another member of the
Cameron family will decide that enough is enough.
Spot on Steve. These showcase failures are vital to demonstrate to a wider audience the serious error of government's ways in this arena.
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