Law Society vows to oppose Government plans to restrict judicial review

The vow was contained in a Law Society Council resolution in December and has now been published as one of Chancery Lane’s campaigning priorities for 2014.

The resolution was agreed in the aftermath of a special general meeting last month where a motion of no confidence in the president, Nick Fluck, and the chief executive, Des Hudson, was passed over their handling of negotiations with the Ministry of Justice in relation to criminal legal aid reforms.

The Law Society said it would scrutinise the Government’s response to the judicial review consultation and consider the best options for opposing “any further attempts to limit legal aid availability for judicial review”.

It also plans to prepare evidence for the Justice Select committee inquiry into the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.

On the criminal legal aid front, Chancery Lane said it would reassert its opposition to cuts and would “continue to impress directly on government the risk those cuts pose to our criminal justice system and the viability of hundreds of legal aid firms and the livelihoods of lawyers who work in them if these cuts go ahead”.

It also plans to seek further concessions from the MoJ in its response to the second criminal law consultation. The latter is expected imminently.

Fluck said: “Taken as a whole, the cost of the criminal justice system to the taxpayer in England and Wales remains comparable with other countries in Europe after allowing for their different systems. The expenditure on criminal cases has not risen in two decades and is set to shrink further following more fee cuts. Additional cuts proposed in the latest plans will have a devastating impact on access to justice and many legal aid solicitors have already reached the point of despair.”

Law Society chief executive Desmond Hudson said: “We have a lot more to do in 2014. The Society's work - from pressing the government for further concessions on criminal legal aid to reiterating the intrinsic value of law to economic growth will continue at full speed. Legal services in the UK remain world-leading and we are going to be doing more to engage directly with members, to support them and respond to their changing needs.”