Legal Aid Battle Hots Up
Law Society Members Convene Special General Meeting
on Legal Aid
Law Society Press Release
13 November 2006
Growing opposition to the government’s legal aid reforms has led
to solicitors putting forward a motion for discussion at a
Special General Meeting at the Law Society, their national
representative body. One hundred and seventy-five solicitors
have supported a motion by Southampton solicitor Roger Peach
urging the Law Society to reject the principle of price
competitive tendering for criminal legal aid services and to
renegotiate new terms for criminal defence contracts.
Pledge for Legal Aid SGM
Law Society Gazette Article
16 November 2006
Means Testing: Sunderland solicitors vote to boycott magistrates’
court for two days
Solicitors have successfully petitioned the Law Society for a
special general meeting to discuss legal aid strategy, it emerged
this week – as lawyers in Sunderland became the latest region to
vote for strike action in protest at the means-testing scheme.
Defending Legal Aid
Law Society Mini Site
16 November 2006
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Online survey: legal aid recruitment - closes 30 November 2006
What Price Justice?
In our continuing fight to defend legal aid, the Law Society has
launched the What Price Justice campaign to boost public
awareness of the threat to the most vulnerable people in society.
The campaign is supported by many of the most influential
lobbying organisations in the country, including MIND, the NSPCC,
Shelter, the Refugee Council and the Child Poverty action Group.
The campaign's objective is simple:
To persuade the government to guarantee an adequately funded
legal aid system ensuring quality representation and access to
justice for all.
And here is the LSC Response:
LSC Rejects Law Society Claims of Poor Access
to Legal Aid Services
LSC Press Release
8 November 2006
The Legal Services Commission (LSC) today rejected The Law
Society's claims, at the launch of their 'What Price Justice'
campaign, that there is poor access to legal aid services.
Currently there is adequate provision of services across most of
England and Wales, contrary to claims of 'advice deserts'. The
number of people who received civil legal help in 2005/06 was a
six-year high. Almost 95% of the population live within five
miles of a civil legal aid provider, which is comparable to other
public services.
Refuting Law Society's claims: Detailed briefing note - Nov 06
(30 kb)