Courts and legal aid in firing line as MoJ faces massive budget cuts

The Ministry of Justice will have to cut its budget by at least 25 per cent over the next four years over and above its existing commitment to slash spending by £685m, it has emerged.

The scale of the latest cuts raises questions about the future of the legal aid scheme and whether there will be radical restrictions to scope or eligibility.

Lord Chancellor and justice secretary Ken Clarke today launched a legal aid review to 'make the system more efficient having regard to the current financial climate'.

At the same time, he announced plans for the closure of 103 magistrates' and 54 county courts, more than a fifth of the total.

'Across the civil, family and criminal courts I want to look at what can be done to use technology more effectively so fewer people have physically to attend court for routine purposes,' Clarke said.

'Increasingly we are using the internet, telephone and video technology in our work and personal lives '“ we should be more rigorous in exploring their use across the justice system.'

Earlier this month, Jonathan Djanogly, the legal aid and civil justice minister, confirmed that ministers would be going ahead with the previous government's £360m package of cuts for the department, including a cut of £100m in criminal legal aid (see Solicitors Journal 15 June 2010).

The coalition had already announced its own plans for immediate cuts worth £325m at the MoJ, targeted particularly at new prison and court building projects.

Now, under yesterday's emergency budget, the MoJ and other departments apart from health and overseas aid, face an average cut of 25 per cent over four years.

Chancellor George Osborne indicated that schools and the military would be the first to be protected from his axe. The results of the Treasury's comprehensive spending review, including specific cuts for each department, will be revealed in October.

Chris Hynes, director of the Legal Action Group, said he could not see how the government could take a further £500m from the MoJ budget without 'serious damage' to legal aid scope or eligibility.

'There is going to be a lot of pain,' he said. 'They might get human rights challenges and they will have to fight them off.

'The MoJ is taking a disproportionate hit. It has already reduced its budget by ten per cent over three years.'

A spokesman for the MoJ confirmed that the department would have to find further cuts of 25 per cent 'over and above the spending cuts already announced'.