Legal aid reforms need two-year impact review, says CILEX
The government’s planned reforms to criminal legal aid are a step in the right direction but need to be reviewed after two years to ensure they are having the desired impact, CILEX has said.
Its response to the Ministry of Justice consultation, which followed Sir Christopher Bellamy’s Independent Review of Criminal Legal Aid, also urged ministers to recognise the importance of CILEX professionals to the current and future operation of the criminal legal aid system.
Arguing that criminal legal aid is “in dire need of investment and reform” to ensure that the underpinning principles of the justice system are retained and that the sector “attracts and retains the best legal talent”, CILEX backed the government’s proposals to address these problems while also urging ongoing monitoring to ensure the desired outcomes and review any further support needed.
Other professional bodies also raised concerns, with the Law Society warning that the government’s proposed investment in criminal legal aid was “woefully inadequate” and “would not reverse the damage to our criminal justice system, persuade young lawyers that they could have a viable career in this sector, prevent the closure of more criminal legal aid firms, or enable the courts backlog to be addressed”.
CILEX supported the creation of an advisory board to encourage effective partnership working between the Ministry of Justice, representative bodies (including CILEX) and practitioners. Its response said: “The fee uplifts proposed in the consultation are a positive step towards putting criminal legal aid on a more sustainable footing.
“We are, however, asking that the proposed advisory board be given a specific remit to conduct an impact review after 24 months and be asked for their views on whether more needs to be done to protect the criminal legal system.”
CILEX chair Professor Chris Bones said, “The government also needs to recognise that this cannot be a one-off intervention. It needs to monitor the impact of the reforms and, in collaboration with stakeholders like CILEX, take stock after two years of what more needs to be done to deliver a justice system the country needs and deserves.”
Whilst agreeing that better remuneration was part of addressing the recruitment and retention crisis, CILEX also highlighted the importance of opening up the system to lawyers from a broad range of backgrounds.
The response strongly supported proposals to make it easier for suitably qualified CILEX professionals to become duty lawyers, contending that “the CILEX Professional Qualification and advocacy practice rights course equip members with the necessary knowledge and skills to operate independently as duty lawyers and make them the professional equal of solicitor counterparts”.
Professor Bones added: “CILEX Lawyers have a lot to offer the desperately needed recovery of the criminal legal aid system and there are signs in the consultation that the Ministry of Justice recognises this. But it needs to go further in ensuring that our members can play a full part alongside solicitors.”