A gloomy picture of delays in the family and civil courts, litigants unable to secure representation and a decline in fee income has emerged from a major Bar Council report into the impact of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO).
Many barristers said they were actively considering whether they want to stay at the Bar long-term and that LASPO had caused them to rethink the viability of their career. A significant minority were considering a move to judicial or other positions before the end of this year.
LASPO removed legal aid from large areas of family and civil law, including debt, housing, immigration, benefits, private family and personal injury, in April 2013. It also introduced the Jackson reforms to shake up civil litigation procedure.
The Bar’s survey of 716 people, nearly 90% of whom were barristers, highlighted the impact of the Act.
A rise in court delays since LASPO was reported by 80% of family law respondents and 64% of civil law respondents. A “significant” rise in the number of litigants in person was noted by 88% of those who worked in the family courts and 70% of those in the civil courts.
Six out of ten respondents had experienced an increase in the number of lay clients requesting pro bono advice and representation.
Nicholas Lavender QC, chair of the Bar, says: “These changes pose a significant threat to effective access to justice for some of the most vulnerable members of society, as well as a threat to the viability of the publicly-funded Bar.
“Unsurprisingly, the preliminary results from the survey confirm the concerns we raised with the government some time ago: a significant increase in litigants-in-person, more delays in court, and growing difficulty for individuals in accessing legal advice and representation.”
He said improvements could be made by simplifying court processes to help litigants in person and promoting those legal aid services that still exist to ensure full take-up.
Legal aid practitioners have previously warned of a public misconception that legal aid has been entirely removed whereas it may still be available in certain situations, for example, where someone is at risk of homelessness or is suffering domestic violence.
