Cut Price Justice – Garden Court Chambers Blog
“Anna Morris explains why the legal profession and the public must unite to oppose the government’s attack on legal aid.”
Garden Court Chambers Blog, 20th May 2013
Source: www.gclaw.wordpress.com
Category: budgets
Housing benefit changes legal test to begin at High Court – BBC News
“A legal test is set to begin into the government’s decision to cut housing benefit for recipients living in properties that have a spare room.”
BBC News, 15th May 2013
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
NHS ‘cover-up culture’ to be tackled with fines – The Guardian
“Hospitals that give false information about death rates will face unlimited fines under new powers aimed at preventing another Mid-Staffordshire-style health scandal.”
The Guardian, 10th May 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Costs budgeting: Proportionality is trumps – New Law Journal
“‘The budgeting of multi-track litigation is the most important of costs reforms that lawyers should prepare for’ advises Professor Dominic Regan, the leading expert in civil litigation (‘Not the end of the story?’). So, how should we—judges and professional civil litigators— ‘prepare’ now that the Jackson reforms are a reality? The short answer is CPD Training: Chapter 40 and Recommendations 89 and 90 of the Jackson Report (Review of Civil Litigation Costs: Final Report, December 2009).”
New Law Journal, 2nd May 2013
Source: www.newlawjournal.co.uk
High court rejects legal challenge to Barnet’s ‘easyCouncil’ plans – The Guardian
“Campaigners against Barnet council’s radical plan to outsource hundreds of millions of pounds worth of services, dubbed easyCouncil, are to take their case to the appeal court after a judge ruled their objection to a £320m contract had come too late.”
The Guardian, 29th April 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
New legal aid reforms end ‘justice for all’, lawyers warn – The Independent
“England’s 800-year-old tradition of fair and open access to justice for all will
be destroyed by sweeping Government plans to reform criminal legal aid, senior
judges and magistrates warn today.”
The Independent, 28th April 2013
Source: www.independent.co.uk
McNally: ‘Access to justice’ doesn’t mean access to a lawyer – LegalVoice
“It was time to ‘move on’ from the ‘bruising’ LASPO debate, the Lord McNally said yesterday. The legal aid minister told delegates at an event organised by the Westminster Legal Policy Forum that this month’s cuts would save £180m per annum alone. ‘Yet on the criminal side, we’re still spending £1 billion every year. A significant proportion of this spending is swallowed up by a few very high cost cases,’ the legal aid minister added.”
LegalVoice, 24th April 2013
Source: www.legalvoice.org.uk
The Future of Legal Aid – Why we Need to Act Now – Garden Court Chambers Blog
“Connor Johnston, co-chair of the Young Legal Aid Lawyers, discusses the latest threats to legal aid.”
Garden Court Chambers Blog, 24th April 2013
Source: www.gclaw.wordpress.com
Five disabled people lose challenge over scrapped scheme that gave them independence – The Independent
“Five disabled people have lost their High Court challenge over the Government’s decision to abolish a scheme that helps them live independently.”
The Independent, 24th April 2013
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Implementing a new framework for legal aid – Ministry of Justice
“The Government wants to reduce unnecessary costs and make sure that legal aid helps those who need it the most.”
Ministry of Justice, 23rd April 2013
Source: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice
Action on time-wasting judicial reviews – Ministry of Justice
“New controls will tackle the soaring number of judicial review applications being made in England and Wales.”
Ministry of Justice, 23rd April 2013
Source: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice
Government pressing ahead with (most of) its proposals to restrict access to judicial review – UK Human Rights Blog
“The Ministry of Justice has released its response to the comments generated by the consultation paper on judicial review that was published in December. Unsurprisingly, the Government has signalled that it intends to press ahead with most of the proposals upon which it consulted.”
UK Human Rights Blog, 23rd April 2013
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
Revealed: George Osborne’s secret veto on fraud inquiries – The Independent
“George Osborne has a secret veto over large and potentially politically sensitive fraud investigations, The Independent has learnt.”
The Independent, 23rd April 2013
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Cost budget revisions to fix mistakes unlikely to be allowed, says judge – OUT-LAW.com
“Parties to civil litigation must be able to properly justify the need to make any changes to an approved costs budget, a High Court judge has warned.”
OUT-LAW.com, 22nd April 2013
Source: www.out-law.com
The end of late chopping and changing – New Law Journal
“‘We will amend at trial’ was one of the most common phrases in legal parlance. No more. It is evident on several fronts that the days of belated change, even well before trial, are over. I would go so far as to say that a practitioner failing to act at the earliest possible opportunity is now looking at a potential negligence claim. The robust new attitude demonstrated by Lord Justice Jackson and his cohorts has been applied to pleadings, experts and joinder.”
New Law Journal, 18th April 2013
Source: www.newlawjournal.co.uk
The new model – New Law Journal
“Labour’s Lord Bach fought a good deal harder in the House of Lords to defend legal aid from the coalition’s cuts than many of his colleagues. But, the key provisions of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 are now in force. Civil legal aid will never again have the comprehensive coverage that once it did: in particular, partners whose relationships break down are going to have a particularly hard time. No government, realistically, is going to restart funding at past levels. What can be done to assist the women who are most likely to be the major victims of these cuts?”
New Law Journal, 18th April 2013
Source: www.newlawjournal.co.uk
High Court issues strong warning over costs budget mistakes – Litigation Futures
“It will usually be ‘extremely difficult’ to persuade a court to revise a costs budget that contains mistakes, even if the other party has not been misled or suffered prejudice, the High Court has warned.”
Litigation Futures, 18th April 2013
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
