Jun 18 - GSD Requests Fairer Legal Aid
The GSD has today called upon the Government to make a statement as to when it intends to reform the legal aid and legal assistance rules in order to make it fairer for all.
It will be recalled that in March 2012 the current Government changed the legal aid rules in order to allow lawyers acting for defendants in serious fraud cases which are exceptionally difficult or complex and which are certified by a Judge as such, to be paid at a higher rate than lawyers in ordinary criminal cases. At the time the Opposition criticised the move because there are other types of criminal cases that can be just as exceptionally difficult and complex as some fraud cases and it seemed to us to make no sense to limit any reforms simply to fraud cases. To the Opposition the inescapable truth of the matter was that the reforms appeared to benefit one case and that case has thus far cost the tax payer many millions of pounds.
Many people of moderate means involved in legal proceedings such as custody or maintenance disputes in relation to children and who are struggling to meet their household bills, would be justified in asking why those accused of fraud should be fast-tracked for better treatment.
Commenting on the matter, the Leader of the Opposition noted, ‘I accept that reforming legal aid and legal assistance is a complex matter that concerns both rights to justice and public finance. When I was Minister for Justice, we conducted an extensive consultation exercise and we produced and circulated a draft bill, which we believed would make the system of public funding fairer. The Government is not bound to follow our intended reforms but after two and a half years, I would have expected them to have made substantial moves towards introducing reforms of their own, particularly when they have created unfairness by favouring one type of case over and above others. The system at the moment is far from fair. A handful of defendants are getting gold-plated treatment whilst others on moderate means have to work very hard to pay for their legal bills when they can barely afford to do so.’
