The Law Society of England and Wales has launched their Access to Justice Campaign. The new initiative was announced by the President of the Society, Andrew Caplen, on 8 September, Access to Justice Day. The Law Society is of the opinion that access to justice, and by consequence, the rule of law is under threat and is launching a campaign to protect and strengthen access to justice for all, making it into a priority issue for the Society and its members.
One of the major ongoing concerns of the Society is the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offences Act 2012 (LASPO) and UK reforms to civil legal aid and to civil litigation costs. The Society estimates that up to six thousand people have lost the ability to access civil legal aid. Reforms to the civil litigation costs have made lower value complex cases less viable and solicitors less likely to involve themselves. Pro bono advice from organisations, such as independent law centres, is becomingly increasingly restricted and has even resulted in the closure of some centres. While commending the work done by centres and voluntary solicitors to date, the President affirmed that pro bono legal advice should not be seen as a substitute for a properly funded legal aid system. The campaign wants to highlight the importance of lawyers to the efficient operation of the legal system.
The President identified the three core goals of the campaign:
The campaign will aim to achieve these goals through events, press release, articles, features and interviews. One such event is the upcoming National Pro Bono Week, taking place on the first week of November, celebrating the contributions that lawyers make to the vulnerable in society. That same week, PILNet will be hosting their European Pro Bono Forum, focusing on the building of a global network for public interest lawyers.
Click here to read the speech from Andrew Caplan.
Click here to read more about the Access to Justice Campaign.