ILEX has called for the rest of the justice system to undergo
the same level of change that legal aid lawyers are facing.
Responding to the Ministry of Justice's consultation on legal
aid funding reform, The Institute of Legal Executives (ILEX) has
said a key reform would be better integration of all the relevant
participants in the justice process. 'There is a need to tackle
inefficiencies in the system: for example, inefficiencies in the
Court Service, at police stations, the Crown Prosecution Service,
social services and the Legal Services Commission.'
On a related point, ILEX called on the government to recognise
the importance of greater communication and integration between all
agencies involved in the charging process:
'The consultation paper fails to give a firm commitment in
reviewing and tackling these wider inefficiencies in the system,'
it said. 'It is wholly unfair to expect the legal profession to
make significant changes to its practices without similar
commitments from the other participants of the justice system. This
reinforces the view of practitioners that the legal aid sector is
being disproportionately penalised for inefficiencies in the system
as a whole.
'For example, practitioner feedback indicates that the Crown
Court suffers from weak cases arriving because scrutiny in the
magistrates' court no longer takes place. Cuts are diminishing the
capacity to represent and defend people and eroding the processes
of criminal justice.'
The consultation paper hinted at the possibility of ring-fenced
budgets, and subsequently the ministry instituted a review into the
delivery of legal aid that will directly address this question.
'ILEX agrees in principle with a ring-fenced legal aid budget
for both crime and civil,' the response said. 'Notwithstanding
that, ILEX is of the view that the government cannot control a
criminal legal aid budget that is essentially demand led.
ILEX is not convinced at the utility of dipping into the
criminal budget to enable extra cash to be made available for the
civil budget, without any long-term strategy in place. This is not
the best way forward to run a sustainable system of legal aid.'
The response said the decision to prioritise one area of legal
aid at the expense of another 'appears to be no more than a
political decision'; the reality, it continued, is that in any
recession there is invariably an increase in social deprivation
matched by a corresponding increase in criminal activity.
Posted 07.01.10