OVER 200 barristers, solicitors, law students, probation officers and trade union supporters demonstrated outside Westminster Magistrates Court in defence of legal aid on Monday morning.
They carried placards saying ‘No Legal Aid no Justice’, ‘Be afraid without Legal Aid’, and ‘Long live Legal Aid’.
A banner read ‘Save UK Justice.’
There were also banners from the Justice Alliance, Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers, and Southall Black Sisters.
NAPO members carried placards saying ‘Probation not for sale’.
Russell Fraser of the Justice Alliance told News Line: ‘We’ve organised this demonstration to coincide with the Day of Action by criminal solicitors and barristers in protest against legal aid cuts.
‘They are not attending court this morning before 2pm.’
The Criminal Bar Association said there was a mass ‘non-attendance’ at courts in cities in England and Wales, including London, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Birmingham, Newcastle, Winchester, Bristol and Cardiff, in protest at planned £220m cuts to legal aid.
Lawyers argue the cuts could see their fees fall by up to 30 per cent, reducing the representation available to defendants.
Russell Fraser explained: ‘The Justice Alliance is a collection of lawyers’ groups, charities, trade unions, NGOs and grass roots organisations.
‘The purpose of the protest today is to highlight and remind the public about the other reforms the government has planned for legal aid.
‘We are particularly concerned about the withdrawal of legal aid for prisoners, restrictions on the ability to launch judicial reviews and the discriminatory and arbitrary residency test.’
Matt Foot of the Justice Alliance added: ‘This is about defending a crucial part of the Welfare State, about having equal access to the courts no matter how much you earn.
‘It’s historic united action by barristers and solicitors in a fight for everyone against a government that is trampling on rights.’
Trainee barrister Michael Goold said: ‘This protest is obviously about legal aid cuts.
‘There have been cuts on top of cuts for decades now in the legal aid budget.
‘Criminal defence work rates have dropped over the past 20 years.
‘It’s reached the point where it’s become unsustainable.
‘It’s not about barristers having to be wealthy, it’s about being able to make enough money to do a proper job for your client.
‘People who do legal aid work, do it because they care and want to deliver access to justice to people who otherwise couldn’t afford it.
‘If these cuts go through, what is going to be left is under-qualified people doing far more work than they are able to do, just to try and make enough to keep their pratice going.
‘Today’s protest is to highlight the harm these cuts will do to ordinary people.’
Criminal Bar Association chairman Nigel Lithman QC told protesters outside Westminster Magistrates’ Court that if people aren’t represented properly, mistakes are made which can lead to very costly appeals against miscarriages of justice.
He said: said: ‘A line has to be drawn in the sand before it’s too late.
‘The cuts pose the most serious threat to the British legal system in more than 400 years.
‘The government says it is tough on crime, but is stripping the criminal justice system of anyone able to adequately prosecute serious criminals or defend those falsely accused.’
Legal Aid Practitioners Group Director Carol Storer told News Line: ‘Our members are firms, law centres and charities that do legal aid work.
‘Our concern is there have been huge cuts in civil legal aid.’
‘They came in on April 1st last year, nine days later there were more cuts proposed in civil legal aid and majr changes in criminal legal aid.
‘The issue is about what quality of service you can provide if fees go down.
‘In some cases, fees haven’t increased since 1994.
‘It’s becoming very hard to get people into legal aid work.’
Hammersmith solicitor Ben Lansbury said: ‘My concern is form the whole justice system.
‘There has been signs of deterioration for the last fiver years, with courts accepting lower standards from prison, probation and interpreters.
‘We are the last bastion – if we go, the poor and the people not able to help themselves will suffer.
‘It’s not acceptable. We have to have the same justice system for everyone.
‘I’m also very worried about plans to privatise the probation service, because it is already under the cosh.
‘I would say every privatisation so far has led to delay, inefficiency and a drop in standards.
‘Look at Serco and G4S and the interpreters contract which is a complete disaster.’
Psychologist Sam Westmacott said: ‘I’m an expert witness. I’m refusing to accept any more instructions because the legal aid agency restricts the number of hours I can work with clients to 20 hours in total.’
She explained: ‘In that time, I have at least seven hours reading, at least six hours I want to spend with my client, up to two hours observing her with her child.
‘I need two hours to score my tests and then to synthesise all that together into a report which will take me a minimum of 15, possibly 25 hours to write up.
‘That’s a total of at least 33 hours and I’m only allowed 20 hours.
‘The point is it leads to delay for the child in family law courts.
‘The legal aid agency have created more delay by these cuts and about 50 per cent of expert witnesses who were working in the courts are no longer doing so.
‘Psychologists like me can do other work but we care about the children and their parents. That’s why we’re here.
‘My hope is the government will re-think and put the child and family at the centre, not pushed out to the side.’
National Association of Probation Officers Greater London branch chair Pat Waterman said: ‘We’re part of the Justice Alliance because we are opposed to the government’s attacks on all aspects of the criminal justice system.
‘These cuts are an attack on the poorest people, an attack on their access to justice.
‘This government is looking to privatise the probation service as well.
‘We’ve already taken strike action and we continue to be in dispute.
‘We will not see the probation service sold off to privateers.’
Joe Mensah-Dankwah said: ‘I work for Foresters Solicitors in Walthamstow.
‘We’re here to defend access to justice for poorer people as well as our jobs.
‘The cuts being proposed will mean that a very large number of small firms will simply disappear. and with it will go the access for the people we serve.
‘Independent and effective specialist representation in criminal cases will disappear.
‘We are staring the death of justice in the face, and it’s something we will not quietly do.
‘They are privatising the welfare system, that’s what is going on.
‘It’s unfair in the first place, it takes away something that belongs to society and puts it in the hands of a small number of people.
‘Inevitably, the profit motive drives out any sense of public worth.’
As well as the Criminal Bar Association, the Treasury Counsel, a group of top barristers appointed by the attorney general to prosecute the most serious crimes, has criticised the plans.
It is joined by the Bar Council, which represents barristers in England and Wales, and the Law Society, which represents solicitors, also in England and Wales.
