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It is utterly farcical for justice minister Shailesh Vara to comment that any changes are resulting in quicker or fairer access to justice. There is nothing quicker or fairer to the process because of a higher fee.

Anyone on the ground will tell you they are experiencing significantly greater delays in all courts over the telephone, receiving orders from months ago, delays in hearings being listed all combined with higher court fees. How are we supposed to explain or justify this to a client?

The simple but unpalatable fact is that fee increases are a thinly, barely, veiled attempt to reduce the number of claims.

An online court would be fantastic but in reality one fears that the court are only just getting to grips with email. How they are supposed to deliver what would be an incredibly expensive software solution with an already stretched and significant budget cut is beyond me.

In other news, great that the judiciary are making their voices heard in such unambiguous terms and well done to them even if slightly self serving as a result of their dealing with more LIP's. More of this speaking up please. The Law Society and Bar Counsel should be right behind them regarding this shouting loudly and in unison for maximum exposure and impact.

The legal industry is hugely important to our economy. It adds to inward investment confidence. Access to justice is a human right that is being impeded by the back door. Few would mind if the fees actually resulted in a better, quicker and/or fairer service, but they just aren't- the impact is worse than ever, and in that context the existing increases (let alone further increases) are simply unacceptable.

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