Government plans for a £220 million reduction in legal aid have been left on unsure footing after a high court ruled deemed the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) consultation process to be “so unfair as to amount to illegality.”
The proposed reduction had been subject to widespread criticism, with many groups fearing it will make access to justice prohibitive. The ruling represents a setback for justice secretary Chris Grayling, whose negotiations with the legal profession led to the 17.5% cut in fees and a reduction in the number of duty contracts for solicitors to attend courts and police stations.
Bid Waddington, chairman of the Criminal Law Solicitors’ Association, said: “This is a damning indictment of the lord chancellor, Chris Grayling. The head of our world-renowned justice system must act fairly; instead he has attempted to enact a plan that is manifestly unfair. Limiting access to justice and shredding the treasured principle of equality before the law.”
Mr Justice Burnett, who made the ruling, criticised the MoJ for its handling of the consultation process and its refusal to allow those involved to comment on the reports by the accountants KPMG and Otterburn. Waddington had requested the report before the MoJ decision, and he suggested that the MoJ’s refusal disallowed the profession the chance to comment upon the assumptions outlined in the report.
A MoJ spokesperson said: “This judicial review was not wholly successful – the claimants failed in their challenge to the fee cut. However, the judgement has raised some technical issues about the consultation process, which we are carefully considering.
“We will continue to implement reform of the criminal legal aid system. We must ensure legal aid is sustainable for those who need it, for those who provide legal services as part of it and for the taxpayer, who ultimately pays for it. Even after reform, we would still have a very generous system at around £1.5b a year.”