The Government is launching a consultation on plans to limit legal aid to defendants in criminal cases. Its proposals include a plan to prevent anyone with disposable income of more than £37,500 from being automatically entitled to receive assistance with their costs and also to 'curb' the rights of prisoners who seek legal aid.
That these proposals are shockingly wrong should be obvious to anyone who believes in justice. Criminal cases are prosecuted by the state in the guise of the Crown Prosecution Service; investigations into suspected offences are conducted by the police and associated bodies which have access to the most modern and sophisticated tecnologies. Effectively, the prosecution has unlimited resources.
Set against this, defendants have little chance unless their own costs are met in similar fashion. Disposable income of £37,500 may sound like a lot of money but, when barristers' charges can be measured in thousands of pounds an hour, it's a drop in the ocean. It's an utterly unreasonable proposal that will deny any chance of justice to many.
Of course, it may be right to levy costs against wealthy defendants once they've been proven guilty, but to deprive anyone of the means of defending themselves in the first place is entirely immoral. In like fashion, it would be wrong to deny convicted prisoners the means of launching appeals once the grounds for appeal have been accepted. Access to justice should be precisely the same for all citizens and not determined by status or wealth.
The Government needs to be told where to put these wrong-headed and unjust proposals; the answer to the consultation should be 'NO WAY !'
No comments:
Post a Comment