The balance sheet is important but humans & justice come first, says Geoffrey Bindman
The final report of the Bach Commission is an admirable blueprint for the restoration of our justice system. Lord Bach has stressed that the commission was made up of people selected for their expertise rather than any affiliation with the Labour Party (see ‘The right to justice & an agenda for change’, NLJ 6 October 2017, p 7). Lord Bach is a former Labour minister and the report is published by the Fabian Society, but the presence of the former Court of Appeal judge Sir Henry Brooke as vice-chair guarantees (to all who know him) its independence and authority. The report can thus be regarded not as a party political document but as a basis for cross-party consensus. The Government’s hopefully imminent review of the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) should follow its recommendations on legal aid.
More than a pillar
The NHS and legal aid are often described as the twin pillars of the welfare state. Though constantly under threat through lack
