Lawyers granted life-line in criminal legal aid appeal

The Court of Appeal has today handed down a crucial judgment permitting the Law Society and practitioner groups to challenge a High Court ruling over government reforms of criminal legal aid.

Law Society president Andrew Caplen said: "Our appeal has been granted and our legal fight continues. We are still working to put an end to the process. The legal aid crime duty contracts tender process will remain suspended until the result of the appeal, which will be heard on March 10 and 11."

The Law Society, Criminal Law Solicitors' Association (CLSA) and London Criminal Courts Solicitors' Association (LCCSA) had appealed a judicial review decision from Lord Justice Laws and Mr Justice Cranston which would allow the government to forge ahead with its controversial two-tier contract scheme for duty solicitors.

The parties had argued that the High Court's decision to dismiss its judicial review could result in a collapse of the market and that those accused of a crime would not be able to access legal advice.

Granting the appeal, Lord Justice Moore-Bick said that the master of the rolls, Lord Dyson, was "interested in this case", and suggested the appeal may be heard by both him and two other lord justices.

While the Lord Chancellor's legal team asked that the suspension on the tender process for 527 duty provider contracts be removed, Moore-Bick LJ dismissed the request.

President of the LCCSA, Jonathan Black, said that the court's permission to grant the appeal was encouraging news. "These on-call solicitor contracts would be disastrous if they go through, denying people accused of a crime proper access to justice. They would spell the death of the high street solicitor; the rise of massive legal aid warehouses which specialise in 'pile em high, sell em cheap' justice and in some parts of the country lead to dangerous legal advice deserts."

He continued: "The extended suspension of the disputed tender process is a relief for everyone but those who are determined to implement these savage cuts whatever the cost to society. We're by no means out of the woods yet but things may be moving in the right direction."

In a joint press release, Bill Waddinton, CLSA chair, and Robin Murray, CLSA vice-chair, said: "The CLSA are delighted that we, the LCCSA and the Law Society were granted leave by the Court of Appeal to overturn the divisional court win by the MoJ. The icing on the cake is that the say/injunction remains in place for now. Thank you to everyone supporting the cause of access to Justice We are so pleased to have achieved this victory for you."

Commenting on the judgment, Matt Foot, co-founder the Justice Alliance, said: "I am delighted that the court has given leave on this crucial issue of access to decent criminal representation for all. The success of the Relay for Rights and Not the Global Law Summit rally and benefit shows how strong the support is for this cause."

Full documents from the appeal application can be found here.

John van der Luit-Drummond is legal reporter for Solicitors Journal