Concerns over legal aid reform
Changes will 'adversely affect the vulnerable'
Quaker concerns over the impact that changes to legal aid will have on the poorest and most vulnerable in society have been echoed in the House of Lords.
The Ministry of Justice believes that the proposed legal aid reforms will save £350m and end an ambulance-chasing culture that taxpayers cannot afford.
The Law Society, the independent body that represents solicitors, claims the measures will limit the ability of many people to secure justice by making the risks of pursuing legal action too high. This position is supported by many peers opposed to the present bill, particularly those associated with faith groups, and has been a concern of Quakers for some time.
Last year Birmingham Quaker Alan Bean warned that ‘proposed reforms to the legal aid system will create a more unjust society – not a more just one – and adversely affect the vulnerable’ (see ‘Reforming legal aid’, 7 July 2011).
Sound Off for Justice, the campaign group, warn that ‘at least 650,000 people’ will have ‘nowhere to turn for legal advice’ as a result of the proposed reforms. Campaign groups, such as Shelter, Netmums and the Women’s Institute, have criticised the proposed reforms.
