Administration of justice in Wales

Justice in Wales for the people of Wales: a review of the Welsh justice system

The Commission on Justice in Wales published its report, ‘Justice in Wales for the people of Wales’ in October 2019, which was the culmination of nearly two years’ work.¹

About the author: Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, the former Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, chaired the Commission. Lord Thomas is an honorary vice-president of CILEx.

We have set an ambitious plan for the future of the justice system in Wales to address our conclusion that the justice system is failing the people of Wales.

The Commission’s fundamental recommendation is that justice should be determined and delivered in Wales, so that it aligns with the distinct and developing social policy in Wales and growing body of Welsh law. In our view, the current division of responsibilities between governments and legislatures based in London and Cardiff for justice on the one hand, and social, health, education and economic development policies on the other, lies at the root of the problem.

Our recommendations range across the whole of the legal system in Wales, including education, the legal professions and wider issues of access to justice, amongst other subjects.

Legal professionals provide an essential service in Wales and make a valuable contribution to the Welsh economy, but we are concerned about the sustainability of legal practices, particularly across rural and post-industrial Wales.

The Commission believes the present system - where legal practitioners can practise in England and Wales and the legal professions are jointly regulated - should continue.

Evidence to the Commission and external engagement

The Commission received over 200 pieces of written evidence, including from CILEx, took evidence from 150 people and held over 80 engagement events across Wales and the UK. The Commission examined the scale and nature of the legal sector in Wales; the issues it faces; and the opportunities for growth and sustainability.

The make-up of the legal sector

There are around 3,855 practising solicitors in Wales, with a further 1,405 non-practising solicitors on the solicitors’ roll. The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) estimates there is one law firm per 5,472 people in England, compared with one law firm per 7,962 people in Wales. There are 713 law firm offices in Wales and around two-thirds of Welsh law firms operate only from one office (designated by the SRA as their head office) and around a quarter have no more than two branches.

The relationship to the economy

The Gross Value Added in legal activities in Wales in 2017 was £473 million, or £151 per person. This was similar to the figure in the November 2018 report by TheCityUK, which estimated the Gross Value Added for legal services in Wales in 2016 as £431 million.² The underlying state of the Welsh economy creates difficulties for the legal sector in terms of scale, opportunities to specialise and growth prospects solely from the Welsh economy. We believe it is possible to build a legal services brand in Wales, as has happened in Leeds and Belfast. Cardiff has a high level of legal activities, businesses and employees for a city of its size.

Qualification as a lawyer

In 2017–19, 6,083 periods of recognised training commenced in England and Wales, 164 of which were in Wales. Competition is generally intense to secure a training contract as there are 390 Legal Practice Course places available at Welsh universities and about 2.4 students studying for this course in Wales for every training contract available here. It is theoretically possible for those who have completed the academic and vocational stages of training, and with a portfolio of relevant legal work experience, to make an application to the SRA for exemption to undertake a period of recognised training. Such exemptions are difficult to secure.

The limited opportunities to complete the vocational stage of training, therefore, act as a barrier to qualifying as a solicitor in Wales as the small number of training contracts in Wales has a direct impact on the number of new solicitors entering the profession here.

Given that only 164 such contracts were awarded in Wales in 2017–18, Welsh training contracts account for about 2.7% of the England and Wales total. The relatively ageing profile of solicitors in Wales demonstrates that the need to train and retain future solicitors and practice owners in Wales is crucial.

Legal work performed in Wales

The Commission also looked at the main types of legal work being performed in Wales. In general, most Welsh solicitors’ firms are high street practices offering traditional legal services. In Wales, there is a reliance on private client legal specialism: some 74%; 73%; 65%; and 63% respectively of solicitors’ firms do conveyancing, wills, probate and family law, with 31% specialising in criminal law.

Commercial law firms in Wales have grown principally through exporting legal services to England and beyond. This is not surprising given the high level of economic interlinkages between Wales and England, the existing common legal system and the common right to practise.

Rural and post-industrial Wales: the current position

Rural and post-industrial Wales needs help immediately, and we propose a strategy to reinvigorate the legal sector here. We see opportunities in these areas for law firms to build on collaboration with other professional firms, like accountants and financial advisers. This will increase knowledge transfer by sharing educational and training resources, and strengthen relationships with law schools to develop the talent pool of law graduates.

The small size of many law firms; the ageing profile of practitioners; the difficulty in training and retaining talent; and the need for continuing professional development and keeping pace with legal technology are issues which impact on the sustainability of firms. Legal aid reforms, the closure of local courts and other changes to the justice system also cause problems.

The cuts to legal aid arising from the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act in 2012 have had a disproportionate impact on legal practices in rural and post-industrial areas of Wales. Firms have retrenched the services they offer in an effort to remain viable businesses. This has created a void in the provision of legal advice which is often being met by third sector advice providers.

A coherent and integrated strategy

The Welsh Government should introduce a ‘legal academy’ to encourage the development of leadership skills in the sector, particularly an understanding of inspirational ideas and innovation, and of technology.

Technology and a legal services brand in Wales

We looked at how technology could help create a legal services brand in Wales. Artificial Intelligence is at an early stage of deployment in the legal sector, but this is changing. Whilst there are legal practices in Wales deploying technology to deliver high-volume work, Welsh legal practices do not have capacity to take this on. Nevertheless, Swansea University’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Law (CIEL) has responded to the challenges identified in these reports, particularly around emerging technologies and innovation in legal services. It is, however, an underused asset. It is essential to encourage the dissemination and transfer of the knowledge available in specialist centres such as the CIEL across the legal sector in Wales.

Recommendations

We recommend that the Welsh Government should provide strong support for investment in technology, especially in postindustrial and rural Wales.
We recommend that the Welsh Government must provide clear leadership and support for the legal services sector.

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The Welsh version and English version of the report is available at: https://tinyurl.com/ye5z8ljo and at: https://tinyurl.com/ygeufs6w respectively
Legal excellence, internationally renowned: UK Legal Services 2018, available at: https://tinyurl.com/wqchl7r

The Commission’s report; the Commission’s Law Council of Wales paper; oral evidence to the Commission; written submissions to the Commission; and details of Commission business are available at: https://gov.wales/commission-justice-wales: