Phil Shiner sought up to £200,000 of legal aid funding to represent clients including Khuder Al-Sweady
The former human rights lawyer Phil Shiner has pleaded guilty to fraud charges linked to claims made against Iraq war veterans.
Shiner, 67, appeared at Southwark crown court on Monday and pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud, according to the National Crime Agency (NCA). He will be sentenced on 2 December.
Continue reading...Irish foreign minister says he does ‘not anticipate any particular difficulties in respect of the EU side’
Back at the home affairs committee James Daly (Con) asks why so few police investigations end up in people being charged.
James Cleverly, the home secretary, says the Crown Prosecution Service is independent. He wants to make sure investigations are as professional as possible.
Continue reading...Women’s Budget Group says changes have disproportionately affected women and cut critical lifeline in England and Wales
Vulnerable women in England and Wales, including survivors of domestic and sexual abuse, are being denied justice because of cuts to the civil legal aid budget, a thinktank has said.
The Women’s Budget Group says a decade on from major changes to legal aid, women have been disproportionately affected, leaving them without essential support to fight discrimination, violence and housing insecurity.
Ineligibility, for example some employment discrimination not being included in legal aid.
Inaccessibility due to insufficient legal aid providers.
Lack of awareness and signposting of what qualifies for legal aid.
Continue reading...MoJ guidance found to be wrong after woman trying to enforce custody agreement denied funds as son no longer lived with her
A decision to deny a single mother legal aid to enforce a child custody agreement against her abusive ex-partner was unlawful, the high court has ruled.
When Susie (not her real name) separated from her ex-partner, who would physically and verbally abuse her when he had been drinking, they initially shared custody of their son equally. But when he breached their agreement, limiting her access, the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) refused her application for funds because it decided that as her son was not then living with her, he was not her dependant.
Continue reading...Offences committed in England and Wales have included murder, kidnap, and child rape, study of data shows
Nearly 900,000 offences including murder, kidnap, and child rape, have been committed by people on bail in England and Wales since the Conservatives came to power, a new analysis has found.
The latest government figures show more than 20,000 offences were committed by those released from custody as they awaited a hearing, equating to 55 offences a day.
Continue reading...Members of Criminal Bar Association take fight for a 25% rise in legal aid fees to parliament
Barristers are heading to parliament as they begin their first whole week of strike action over levels of legal aid funding they say are bringing the criminal justice system to its knees.
Members of the Criminal Bar Association, which represents advocates in England and Wales, began action with a two-day strike at the end of last month and have been escalating it by an extra day every week.
Continue reading...Sevenfold rise in those waiting at least a year for cases to be heard as lawyers quit over cuts in legal aid
More than 5,800 victims of violent crime and sexual offences are stuck in one of the worst-ever backlogs in the crown courts, enduring delays of at least a year before their cases are heard, the Observer can reveal.
The number of cases facing these delays once a defendant has been charged has increased more than sevenfold in two years, according to an analysis of crown court figures in England and Wales.
Continue reading...Solicitors and barristers say they feel unsafe and warn Home Office attacks on lawyers are undermining the legal system
Leading immigration lawyers have told the Guardian that increasingly hostile rhetoric from the home secretary is putting them at risk of being attacked as well as undermining the legal system.
On Sunday home secretary Priti Patel used a speech at the Conservative party conference to criticise lawyers who defend migrants, linking them directly with traffickers who help asylum-seekers to cross borders.
Continue reading...One month window to challenge convictions in England and Wales means women who have experienced trauma are unfairly criminalised, campaigners say
Women who have been unfairly convicted or sentenced to jail are being denied the chance to redress miscarriages of justice because the appeals system in England and Wales is not fit for purpose, the law group Appeal has alleged.
In particular, those who have been victims of trauma or domestic abuse are unable to make a legal challenge due to the “unrealistic” 28-day window allowed to make an application to the criminal Court of Appeal, the report highlights.
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