Legal aid danger

The government’s attempt at reform of the legal aid system has become lost and is in need of renewing in order to protect vulnerable groups in society, says a discussion paper from the Bar Council. The paper, Legal Aid and the Public Interest: Towards an Effective Public Private Partnership, sets out the Council’s vision of a “world-call legal system” and argues for a “conditional legal aid fund” to provide legal services to those that cannot afford to pay. Successful claimants would then make a proportional payment to the fund, in addition to costs recovered. The paper also claims that the reforms are endangering the future of the legal system by making it less financially secure.