LCCSA News, Legal Aid

Legal aid cuts: solicitors and probation officers begin mass walkouts | Law | theguardian.com

PUBLISHED April 1, 2014
SHARE

Criminal solicitors and probation officers have begun 48 hours of industrial action in protest against cuts to legal aid and the privatising of offender rehabilitation services.
The combined demonstration against Ministry of Justice policies is aimed at bringing the criminal justice system in magistrates and crown courts across England and Wales to a standstill.
Nicola Hill, president of the London Criminal Courts Solicitors Association, said: "What is happening to probation and criminal legal aid belongs to the same sorry story. That's why criminal defence solicitors are standing by colleagues in probation.

As the government dismantles the criminal justice system, risks are being taken which threaten public safety and the right to a fair defence. The MoJ is taking a gamble on outsourcing the supervision of the most persistent offenders on release from short-term prison sentences.
Meanwhile as the justice secretary scrimps on legal aid, the risk of the innocent going to jail is set to become a nightmarish reality. Miscarriages of justice for ordinary people will increase because they can't get a decent lawyer."

Legal aid cuts: solicitors and probation officers begin mass walkouts | Law | theguardian.com.

CATEGORIES