Leveson: Merit in consolidation
The government has accepted a recommendation made by Sir Brian Leveson to work with the legal profession in finding the “best operating model” for the criminal legal aid market.
It has also agreed with a recommendation that the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEX) provide training to allow its lawyers to be “formally recognised” as duty solicitors.
In his government-commissioned review of the criminal courts, published in February, Sir Brian said the “sheer number” of criminal legal aid firms was “unsustainable” and there was merit in “some form of consolidation”.
In their joint response, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), Home Office and Attorney General supported his recommendation that the government work with the legal professions “to determine the best operating model of the legal aid market in the light of current conditions”.
The response said this “provides an opportunity to consider changes which could sustain the sector in the longer term”.
It also supported the intention of Sir Brian’s recommendation that CILEX “enhances its training to allow lawyers to be formally recognised as duty solicitors upon qualification”.
While the recommendation was principally for CILEX, the government said it backed the move, which would “reduce a barrier and enable CILEX lawyers to more easily take on duty solicitor work, which will increase the pool of lawyers available”.
On legal aid fees, the government said it agreed “in principle” to Sir Brian’s recommendation that legal aid fees be reviewed every year by the MoJ and Legal Aid Agency from 2027. “This has the potential to improve financial planning of the government and legal aid providers and thereby support the market.”
It agreed in principle also with a recommendation that the MoJ match-fund the police station qualification and magistrates’ court qualification training for duty solicitors, as a way to improve the number of solicitors available to take on duty work across the country.
“This is subject to further evidence gathering on the impact of such a measure and decisions at the next spending review,” the response said.
The government took a similar approach to Sir Brian’s recommendation that the MoJ provide grants to fund criminal law training contracts.
“The government accepts that funding criminal training contracts may help increase the total number of criminal solicitor trainees. If firms retain trainees beyond their training contract, this initiative may help increase the total number of solicitors who are available to take on duty solicitor work.”
However, this depended on the next spending review, and the legal sector itself was “best placed to take forward work to design wider recruitment initiatives to attract junior lawyers into criminal defence”.
The government accepted multiple recommendations made by Sir Brian on the use of AI in the criminal justice system.
AI should be used to “ensure a user-friendly experience for criminal justice system staff”, help the police process evidence, improve Crown Prosecution Service decision-making, and help the courts with translation and transcription.
The response accepted most of Sir Brian’s 180 recommendations. Among those it rejected were that committals for sentence should not be remunerated at less than the equivalent remuneration for a guilty plea in the Crown Court.
The government said: “Lawyers have a duty to advise their clients on the entering of pleas based on the clients’ best interest. There is limited evidence of litigators encouraging clients to have their case heard in the Crown Court and delaying guilty pleas for financial purposes.
“This measure would therefore be a disproportionate response and reduce the appropriateness of committal fees in reflecting work done – a key principle underpinning criminal legal aid fees.”
In a joint foreword with home secretary Shabana Mahmood and Attorney General Ellie Reeves KC, Lord Chancellor Alex Norris said: “We have embraced Lord Leveson’s central conclusion – that fixing this crisis necessitates us to pull all available levers.
“So we are investing at record levels in maximising court capacity: unlimited Crown Court sitting days, increasing the size of the magistracy by 50%, and up to £34m more a year for criminal legal aid advocates, alongside £116m invested in criminal legal aid solicitors.”
In a flurry of announcements to mark the return of Parliament and Courts & Tribunals Bill, which aims to cut the Crown Court backlog, the MoJ said ‘short trial courts’ (previously known as ‘blitz courts’) were being rolled out nationwide, courts would be able to transfer cases to be heard virtually by judges anywhere in the country, virtual remand hearings would be piloted, and councils were being urged to grant prison vans access to bus lanes to help defendants reach court on time.
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