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A change of government inevitably means some policy downtime. Newly appointed ministers need to learn their briefs while party machinery shifts from election winning to governing. In the meantime, we wait to hear how faltering public finances will influence the new lord chancellor’s ability to address the myriad issues afflicting the justice system.
In the justice world, we knew that top of the list would be getting to grips with prison overcrowding. This issue touches on almost every aspect of the criminal justice system: charging priorities and sentencing; rehabilitation; parole; probation; the dire state of the prisons themselves; the (mal)functioning of the criminal courts and the publicly funded lawyers who try to keep them afloat. The riots and subsequent response threw these issues into stark relief, garnering public and media attention. In the appointment of Lord Timpson as prisons minister, there is a real prospect of positive change in the government’s approach to the role and purpose of prisons. But we also need a fundamental change in policy in the whole criminal justice system, particularly the way it is resourced and recognised as a vital, valuable public service.
The same must be said for the civil justice system. For too long, talk of change has revolved around the better use of technology. However, technology is no panacea for the many significant weaknesses in the system. Ideas like a central online resource for explaining legal rights and processes or a single portal for resolving civil disputes are laughable in the current environment. Across the UK, the fabric of legal organisations, networks, partnerships and experts educating people about their rights, protecting those rights, and challenging poor government decision-making and abuses of power, is now threadbare. Technology can help repair and even enhance it, but it cannot replace it.
While we await clarity about post-election priorities, here’s a very quick summary of things to look out for over the coming weeks:
•The Review of Civil Legal Aid and the central question of fees: Initially scheduled to publish a green paper in July 2024, the election put this, and almost all other Ministry of Justice (MoJ) policy initiatives, on ice. A huge amount of good work was done and the MoJ was actively researching the cost of delivering legal aid with a view to consulting on how to set commercially viable fees. Despite understandable early cynicism, I think the sector needs the MoJ to complete this work. We need a means to calculate sensible, sustainable fees, rather than just pick arbitrary figures for any potential increase.
•Family early legal advice pilot: Initially planned for autumn 2024, this project is designed to test whether early advice under the legal aid scheme could help separating parents to achieve better outcomes, and potentially reduce pressure on the family courts.
•Housing Loss Prevent Advice Service: Housing lawyers empowered to resolve the underlying legal issues leading to possession, eviction and homelessness? Sounds great, but these nascent contracts need to be improved and properly resourced.
•Changes to crime and civil contracts: Longer contracts; less jeopardy generated by tenders three to five years apart; the opportunity to expand or take up legal aid at any time; more flexibility over supervision and office requirements. After years of policy work, contracts are finally heading in the right direction (but there is still more to do).
•What is legal support? Good question. By the current definition, it’s almost easier to
work out what isn’t legal support. But this, and the issue of what role the government has in fostering, funding and organising legal support services, could dominate the agenda moving forward.
•Judicial review(s) of the lord chancellor’s statutory obligations: Can litigation finally help to define what the government is legally obliged to do to ensure access to justice for those without means? Will the new government allow any legal challenges to get that far?
LAPG’s November 2024 conference will feature detailed discussion on many of these issues, with the MoJ also invited to set out it stall for future policy, but anyone interested in discussing them now is more than welcome to
contact me.