Sound Off For Justice

Legal Leanings and Birmingham and Beyond are today throwing their weight behind the Law Society’s Sound Off For Justice campaign.

Faced with government cuts of £350 million to the Legal Aid budget, potentially affecting oveer 725,000 cases per year, the Law Society has produced an alternative method of generating budget savings without cutting access to justice for the less well-off.

Birmingham and Beyond‘s Founding Editor Alan W Collins said that “it was once said that everyone is equal in the eyes of the law, but the government’s cuts seriously jeopardise that principle.

“I campaign for an open and fair democracy, and that includes an open and fair justice system. Cutting such a sizeable chunk of the Legal Aid budget is a regressive step that will undermine decades of work invested in improving access to justice.”

The Law Society say that families, unemployed, elderly and infirm people will lose access to justice after the cuts, with legal support in cases of clinical negligence, welfare and employment lost.

Sound Off For Justice has identified £384 million worth of savings – £34 million more than the government is seeking – which recognise that litigation should be the last resort in any matter, and includes measures such as capping legal fees to protect access to justice for the vulnerable.

Alan continued “the previous government maxed out the nation’s credit card and it is paramount that we plug the gaping hole in the nation’s finances. However, it is important that savings being made do not risk taking this country backwards in returning to a two-tier society.

“Legal Aid has ensured that, when people need legal support, the cost of fighting for justice need not be an issue.

“I would urge every Birmingham and Beyond and Legal Leanings reader to visit the Sound Off For Justice website, sign the petition, write to your MP and see how else you can help the campaign.

“If the government’s planned cut goes ahead, then, instead of fighting for justice, those same people will again be fighting for access to justice.

“We must doe everything we can to ensure that never becomes an issue again!”