Senior judges warning over legal aid cuts

Posted By: James

Monday 12th May 2014

Court of Appeal judge, Lady Justice Black, has warned that the rise in the number of people representing themselves in person at Court of Appeal hearings is making the task facing judges "infinitely more difficult". Lawyers warned the government that cuts to legal aid provision would lead to a rise in the numbers of litigants in person and higher court costs as cases lengthened as a result. Lady Black also points to the costs to individuals and to the legal system: “Where the appellant is unrepresented…all those involved in the appeal process take on burdens that they would not normally have to bear." Separately, the FT cites data from Pinsent Masons which shows that defendants facing prosecution for financial crimes, who have been charged following an investigation and have yet to complete a jury trial, fell from 11,261 in 2011 to 9,700 in 2013 – a drop of 14%. However, the number of frauds reported to the police has almost doubled from 122,240 to 230,845 over the past financial year. Legal experts blame the fall in prosecutions on decreased funding for the SFO. “Criminals are using complex ways to defraud businesses and individuals, reports have doubled and too few are getting prosecuted”, said Barry Vitou of Pinsent Masons. Meanwhile, The Sun points out that barrister John Rees earned £675,798 in legal aid payments in one year. Mr Rees is one of four legal aid lawyers paid more than £500,000 during 2012/13. The paper’s Katie Hodge adds that the fees paid to barristers during one year can relate to work on cases that span a number of years and that the payments include VAT, travel and other overheads.

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