Sackman: We’ll be holding regulators to account
The minister for legal services has pledged to chartered legal executives that “we’ll do all that we can” to help them move past the Mazur ruling.
She also said the rest of the legal profession could learn from the way CILEX has opened the door to those from under-represented groups.
Speaking at last week’s CILEX member conference in Birmingham, Ms Sackman – who is minister of state for courts and legal services at the Ministry of Justice – acknowledged the uncertainty and anxiety caused by the Mazur judgment.
While stressing that legal regulators are rightly independent of government, she went on: “I want you to know that I take the issue incredibly seriously… We’ll do all that we can to move past it so that you can continue to thrive.”
That was why she convened an urgent meeting last month with the Legal Services Board and frontline regulators, which she said assured her that the right steps were being taken.
“But rest assured that I and my officials will be watching very closely, holding regulators to account where further action is required.”
Ms Sackman continued: “I want to give credit to Jennifer [Coupland, CILEX CEO] and her team for the speed and the transparency that they’ve shown in reacting and communicating with members, working on solutions and interacting with government.
“It’s obviously been a tough time, but I have every confidence that we can address the issues, restore confidence to your members so that you can carry on doing what you do best, because there is no doubt that you form a vital part of our justice system.”
It subsequently emerged that CILEX is bidding to appeal the Mazur ruling.
In her address, she thanked members of CILEX “for your skill, for your dedication and for your professionalism”, and CILEX itself “for being a champion of fairness, inclusion and opportunity in the law”.
She explained: “If we are going to truly serve the public, then we need to look like them. You are leading the way, which the bar, the solicitor profession, everybody can learn from.
“More than three-quarters of you are women and three-quarters state school educated. Nearly two-thirds of you were the first in your family to attend university and 16% are from an ethnic minority background. This is an engine of social mobility.
“But we have so much further to go in diversifying routes into the legal sector, bringing in new viewpoints, new approaches, new experiences. It enhances, modernises and refreshes our justice system.
“Crucially, it underpins access to justice. It makes sure that nobody out there feels that the system isn’t there for them or that they won’t get a fair hearing or that their problems will be dismissed or misunderstood.”
This was why, the minister said, the government is working to remove barriers to CILEX lawyers, such as the provision in the Victims and Courts Bill currently going through Parliament that will support chartered legal executives to become Crown Prosecutors – currently the Crown Prosecution Service cannot appoint lawyers who are not solicitors and barristers.
Widening the talent pool “is how we create a stronger justice system”, she said.
Speaking more widely about the “enormous strain” the system was under, Ms Sackman cautioned: “The rebuilding effort is underway, but it’s going to take time, it’s going to take investment, it’s going to take reform, and it’s going to take fundamental modernisation.
“This is going to be a national team effort to restore our justice system to where it should be, all of us pulling in the same direction to keep the system moving.”
“And that includes all of you. The work that you do – so often under the radar, but I hope you don’t feel under-appreciated, certainly not by me or by government – is vital to the people you help, to the continued stability of our justice system and to society as a whole.”
CILEX President Sara Fowler said: “We take a huge deal of comfort from the minister coming to speak to us at what we all know has been a difficult time for chartered legal executives in particular.
“Her words are a valuable reminder of the important role we play for our clients and our firms, and in the wider legal market.
“CILEX has changed my life in ways I could never have imagined and I am so proud to be part of this community. The conference was a chance to celebrate who we are as a CILEX community, to show what we stand for, and to set our sights firmly on the future that we want to build together.”
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