Justice Secretary Michael Gove announced another U-turn scrapping major cuts to England's criminal legal aid system. This is considered by many as another blatant humiliation to his predecessor Chris Grayling.
According to The Guardian, Grove suspended legal aid fees meant or duty criminal solicitors representing suspects in police stations, as well as magistrate courts. The new U-turn will also cut legal aid fees by 8.75 percent. The Conservative minister will also abandon the contract-tendering process that would limit the number of law firms allowed to conduct duty legal work. These reforms, which are now reversed by Gove were all initiated by the previous justice secretary, Grayling.
The Huffington Post reported that Gove rejected the creation of a "two-tier" contract system for cases that involves criminal legal aid, which are government funds that supports legal advice or representation for suspects of crimes. The significant cut is from 1,600 to 527.
In a report by the Independent, Gove gave 99 different legal challenges to justify his reasons for the U-turn. He said, "By not pressing ahead with dual contracting, and suspending the fee cut, at this stage we will, I hope, make it easier in all circumstances for litigators to instruct the best advocates, enhancing the quality of representation in our courts."
The reversal to Grayling's legal aid system made lawyers angry. Some claim it would make it harder for poorer people to gain access to justice. Labour agreed to this concern saying it would leave a lot of people without adequate legal representation. Some law firms are concerned that limiting the number of "dual contracts" would only make the market lose its diversity and make it less competitive.
The alternative for the legal aid system is the extension of existing duty legal aid contracts and the creation of an advisory council made up of solicitors and barristers to help reduce "unnecessary bureaucratic costs, eliminate waste, and end continuing abuses within the current legal aid system."
