In a letter to the Daily Telegraph, QCs say legal aid cuts will leave many of society's most vulnerable people without access to legal advice and representation
Ninety of the country's top QCs have said in a letter published today in the Daily Telegraph that further limits on legal aid will "seriously undermine" the rule of law in Britain.
The QCs' comments come after the Ministry of Justice published proposals on further removing legal aid for judicial review just eight days after the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 came into force.
According to the QCs' letter, the proposals include refusing any legal aid to those who do not meet a residence test and refusing to pay lawyers in some cases for work reasonably and necessarily carried out.
The QCs believe that the cumulative effect of these proposals "will seriously undermine the rule of law, and Britain's global reputation for justice. They are likely to drive conscientious and dedicated specialist public law practitioners and firms out of business. They will leave many of society's most vulnerable people without access to any specialist legal advice and representation. In practice, these changes will immunise Government and other public authorities from effective legal challenge."
The QCs warn that further limiting access to judicial review will lead to a one-sided justice system, with people being left with no option but to try to represent themselves, while the Government continues to pay for, and be represented by specialist lawyers.
The Daily Telegraph noted that Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said last month as he announced the plans: "I'm concerned that legal aid is being used to fund a number of weak judicial review cases, which incur costs for, public authorities and the legal aid scheme."