Law Society lands shock legal aid review win

The Law Society has dealt a major blow to the Government's controversial plans to reform the £2bn legal aid system after a High Court judge upheld the bulk of the body's objections to the proposals.

Following judicial review proceedings issued by the Law Society against the Legal Services Commission (LSC) in April, Mr Justice Beatson today (27 July) said the LSC's package of reforms breached European law and public contracts regulations.

Beatson said the plans should not go ahead in their present form if they were likely to unfairly disadvantage firms that entered into the standard contract. The judge accepted the Law Society's argument that LSC proposals including peer review requirements and key performance indicators were in breach of European procurement rules.

Commenting on the ruling, newly-installed Law Society president Andrew Holroyd said: "This judgment underlines the shortcomings of the LSC's approach to the reforms of the legal aid system. The award of 75% of costs is a significant vindication of the actions we are taking."

He added: "The Law Society is not opposed to reform of legal aid but rather to the way it has been introduced by the LSC. We hope that the LSC and Government will now work with us to secure a sustainable future for access to justice through an extensive supplier base of dedicated professionals."

The LSC and the Ministry of Justice have yet to confirm whether they will appeal against the ruling, which would force them to draw up an alternative set of proposals.

However, new fixed fees for civil legal aid work will come in as planned from October after Beaton ruled the Law Society's complaints did not relate to fee levels or structures.

LSC chief executive Carolyn Regan commented: "The legal aid reforms are specifically about maximising access to legal aid for the future. By achieving best value for money and rebalancing the overall budget to provide more funding for civil work, we can continue to increase the number of people helped."

The news comes after the Black Solicitors Network and the Society of Asian Lawyers last week abandoned their own joint bid for a judicial review.