Garden Court North Chambers: proposed legal aid changes "would cause serious damage to the justice system"

Garden Court North Chambers says that the proposed changes to legal aid set out in the Government's consultation paper "Transforming Legal Aid – delivering a more credible and efficient system" are wide ranging, and if brought into force would cause serious damage to the justice system.

The comments come in a new Garden Court North Chambers briefing paper focusing on the changes proposed to legal aid for civil cases.

While the proposals that relate to criminal law been the subject of some press attention, the paper argues that the changes for civil cases are no less serious and have just as much prospect of causing lasting harm, but have thus far received less attention in both the national and legal media.

The briefing paper sets out, in broad terms, some of Garden Court North Chambers' objections to the proposals. Garden Court North Chambers will be preparing a fuller response to the consultation paper prior to the deadline for its submission.

The briefing states: "Although ostensibly framed as the necessary consequences of austerity, these changes will have the consequence of better insulating the government against challenge by its poorest citizens - and in doing so will directly undermine the rule of law."

You can read the full briefing paper here.