12 January 2023
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) plans to recruit up to 1,100 judges and tribunal members and 4,000 more magistrates in 2022-23, according to its annual report and accounts for 2021-22.
Dominic Raab, Lord Chancellor, said the MoJ would publish its response on the civil and criminal legal aid means test review in ‘early 2023 with proposals aimed at improving access to justice’. If enacted, this would make an extra two million people per year eligible for civil legal aid and an extra 3.5 million people eligible for legal aid at the magistrates’ court.
On legal aid, it reported that nearly 400,000 civil legal aid applications were processed, 94% within 20 working days. The MoJ raised £1,636m income last year, including £744m from court fees, £408m from fines and £34m from legal aid recoveries.
