Legal Aid
The government has announced that it is to restrict the availability of legal aid for certain kinds of case.
This not only represents the latest attack on the poor by a Government of millionaires but also prejudices the Article 6 rights of those of limited means to achieve a fair hearing.
Campaign now to oppose the cuts in Legal Aid
Fair Justice for All
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1501 comments
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BUSY BEE
commented
Article 7 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that:
“All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.”
Join Justice For All online and come to a day of action near you next Friday 3rd June. -
Beth
commented
I have seen legal aid improve access to justice for, and ultimately the lives of, so many people. It's absolutely vital in a society that values the rule of law.
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David Whittaker
commented
Not only is cutting legal aid an attack on our human and democratic rights, it's a false economy. Restricting access to free legal advice in the short-term means that taxpayers will have to pay more in the long-term to sort out all the problems it could have helped avoid, e.g. home repossessions, debt relief orders, wrongful dismissals from employment, errors and denial of benefits and community care, protracted immigration claims, etc. etc. We shouldn't forget that equality is still something we have to fight for, more of us are going to have to fight for it in the future and, without legal aid, the most vulnerable people in our society will have their rights trampled on even more comprehensively than they do already.
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David
commented
With mortgage possession proceeds increasing monthly and redundancies on the rise we need to safeguards that Legal Aid brings. This is a fundermental principle in english law without which we return to the dark dys of the Victorian era.
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tom ghannad
commented
The Government proposals to cut Legal Aid pose the threat of a truly detrimental impact on access to justice across the UK. I hope that 38 degrees will support Sound Off For Justice (http://soundoffforjustice.org) in their efforts to raise awareness as to disasterous consequences that the cuts will have.
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Amanda Jacks
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Legal aid cuts would be disasterous. Through my work, I am aware that so many people find the legal process daunting and sadly are prepared to plead guilty when they aren't 'just to get it over with'. They aren't even aware that they may be entitled to legal aid. Thankfully, I am able to refer people to a solicitor ensuring that they get the justice they deserve. Proposed cuts will mean so many more people alienated from the legal system and with criminal records they may not be deserving of.
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gill quine
commented
I support the campaign to protect access to justice for the poor and vulnerable by retaining availability of legal aid for social welfare law
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Kate
commented
It is depressingly familiar that the government seek to save money through reducing services to the least fortunate in society.
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Steve Woodcock
commented
The proposed cuts are outrageous and will reduce access to justice for many individuals and families who are more likely to face injustice due to discrimination and/or poverty. This government is aiming to increase the gap between those that have and those that don't
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Audrey Ludwig
commented
Support the campaign to protect both legal aid and grants to pro bono legal charities
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Alban
commented
cuts to civil legal aid are just vindictive, especially given the background of cuts to social housing and benefits ...
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miriam
commented
Please support this campaign, to stop access to justice being removed for the most vulnerable people in our society. If these changes gp through, it will be impossible for people in poverty and bad housing to enforce even their most basic and fundamental legal rights until their situation has gone much too far to be rectified. Societies are judged by how they treat their poorest and most vulnerable - what do these cuts say about ours?
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paula mansfield
commented
I am a family practitioner with 13 years of experience. If the government's proposals go ahead this will certainly lead to an injustice for some individuals going through family disputes who will not be able to afford to be represented. However the dispute will either go unresolved which could have a siginicantly detrimental impact on the children or is likley to cause chaos in the family courts in the event there are copious numbers of litigants in person
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baljit
commented
Keep legel aid ! We need it more than ever.
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gerard sagar
commented
Hope everyone's aware that these cuts are worst for children - legal aid for compensation claims after medical accidents, access to children cases, housing disrepair cases, divorce, and education appeals by parents for children with special needs. All the cuts are on civil cases and family law.
No change to crimincal legal aid. The number of civil cases getting legal aid support will go down by more than TWO THIRDS - about 760,000 fewer cases every year. Why doesn't Ken Clarke publish the costs to OTHER government departments of this £350m cut by his Ministry of Justice? It will cost them a lot more than it saves the MoJ - welfare benefits, hospital accidents, policing, council housing and social services - all because people who need justice can't get their problems sorted through the law. -
gerard sagar
commented
Hope everyone's aware that these cuts are worst for children - legal aid for compensation claims after medical accidents, access to children cases, housing disrepair cases, divorce, and education appeals by parents for children with special needs. All the cuts are on civil cases and family law.
No change to crimincal legal aid. The number of civil cases getting legal aid support will go down by more than TWO THIRDS - about 760,000 fewer cases every year. Why doesn't Ken Clarke publish the costs to OTHER government departments of this £350m cut by his Ministry of Justice? It will cost them a lot more than it saves the MoJ - welfare benefits, hospital accidents, policing, council housing and social services - all because people who need justice can't get their problems sorted through the law. -
gerard sagar
commented
Hope everyone's aware that these cuts are worst for children - legal aid for compensation claims after medical accidents, access to children cases, housing disrepair cases, divorce, and education appeals by parents for children with special needs. All the cuts are on civil cases and family law.
No change to crimincal legal aid. The number of civil cases getting legal aid support will go down by more than TWO THIRDS - about 760,000 fewer cases every year. Why doesn't Ken Clarke publish the costs to OTHER government departments of this £350m cut by his Ministry of Justice? It will cost them a lot more than it saves the MoJ - welfare benefits, hospital accidents, policing, council housing and social services - all because people who need justice can't get their problems sorted through the law. -
George Wynne Willson
commented
The vulnerable are already being kicked in the teeth enough without these cuts as well
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Penny Scott
commented
Hypocritical of our government to lecture others about human rights when this assault on legal aid will maim access to a fair tribunal right here, right now.
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Nicola Gunn
commented
It is vital that everyone has equal access to justice- especially the poor and vulnerable. The proposed cuts will have a devastating effect on society.
