Promoting legal aid
Lawyers who do legal aid work perform a vital task in creating access to criminal and civil justice, but they must receive the rewards their work deserves, argues David McIntosh
Legal aid lawyers are vital to society.
Most people cannot afford to take a civil action or defend a criminal prosecution without financial help.
If lawyers ceased to carry out publicly funded work, civil liberties and the rule of law in this country would break down.
Those facing criminal charges must have confidence in the fact that, irrespective of their financial means, they will not be convicted where the prosecution and police have got it wrong.On the civil side, in areas such as housing, welfare benefits, child care, family, education and immigration, legal aid lawyers also perform a function.
They deal with issues that arise out of social exclusion.
Legal aid work has often been treated as the Cinderella of the legal profession.
Politicians sometimes seem to disregard solicitors working in the criminal field for providing help to supposed unworthies when money could be better spent elsewhere.
They have been described as 'fat cats' at ministerial level despite not even having reached plump feline shape.
However, I am pleased that the Lord Chancellor has expressed his respect for lawyers who deal with legal aid cases - I wish all his colleagues would follow his example.Public funding is fundamental to our system of criminal and civil justice and to the maintenance of law and order.
Enormous commitment is required to work unsocial hours with clients in police cells, mental hospitals and elsewhere.
The Law Society recognises the value and importance of these practitioners and seeks to advance their key interests.It is in the interests of society that publicly funded lawyers can make a reasonable living.
That is why the Law Society is lobbying hard to secure remuneration rates that are sufficient.
Legal aid fees need to be high enough to attract new, high quality lawyers into publicly funded work.
Otherwise ordinary people will suffer.
Financial restrictions that result in work being over-delegated also impair access to justice.
The changes secured by the Society to the proposed criminal contract earlier this year were an important step.
Many of the worst features of the original draft contract were improved through negotiation; the current structure of police station payments was retained pending further discussion; and there was a significant overall increase in fee levels.
While remuneration rates still fall short of the levels that criminal practitioners deserve, the package that finally emerged from negotiations with the Legal Services Commission represented the first significant improvement in the terms for criminal legal aid since standard fees were introduced in the magistrates' courts.There has also been progress on fees for family legal aid work - a 10% general increase, with a further guaranteed enhancement for members of the Society's children panel, the Solicitors Family Law Association panel and now for the advanced tier of the Society's family law panel.
Meanwhile, the Society continues discussions with the LSC to resolve the problems experienced by firms from reconciliation and recoupment of standard monthly payments.
This affects criminal and immigration practitioners in particular.
Legal help for the poorest does not have to be provided exclusively by private practice lawyers.
The Society made it clear in discussions of the Access to Justice Bill that we had no objection to an element of public salaried service in legal aid, provided that clients had a choice between the two sectors, and that the independence of advice and quality of service of the salaried elements were guaranteed.
Amendments we secured to the Bill will help to achieve that.We will continue to insist on proper research into the cost and performance of the salaried element compared with the service provided by private practitioners.The Society continues to promote improvements in financial eligibility for legal aid.
We successfully argued against the government's proposal that the full equity value of applicants' homes should be counted when calculating people's contributions to the cost of legal aid, subject only to the general 3,000 allowance.
Unchallenged, that would have excluded from legal aid almost all those with mortgages.
The Society has also played a major part in securing the increases in eligibility for legal help which come into effect in December.
And we will continue to fight for fairer eligibility criteria.We support the LSC where its initiatives seek quality, access to justice and choice for the consumer.
But we oppose its bureaucratic requirements where these involve time and expense without producing corresponding benefits.
We think it right to press for adequate remuneration for the heavy administrative burden that is being placed on practitioners.
The Society's legal aid unit keeps practitioners informed about the developments that affect them through its newsletter, Dispatch, published every two months.
It can also be found on the Society's Web site (www.lawsociety.org.uk).
The Society also provides information through seminars and continually seeks new ways to communicate with practitioners.The work of legal aid lawyers is essential in supporting the fundamental principle that all citizens are equal before the law.
It is in all of our interests to ensure that the value of these lawyers is fully recognised and appropriately remunerated.David McIntosh is the Law Society President
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