Years of cuts to legal aid mean the UK is heading towards a
two-tier justice system, Wales' Counsel General today warned.
In a keynote speech to the Legal Wales conference, he contrasted
the devastating cuts to legal aid with the “obscene” amount of
money spent by the UK Government on prisons and called for a
greater focus on alternatives to custody and help to prevent
people offending.
His comments echo those made by the 2019 independent Commission
on Justice in Wales. Chaired by , it found people
were being let down by the justice system and recommended
significant reforms.
...In his speech to the conference today, the Counsel General and
Minister for Constitution said: “In Wales and in the rest of the
UK we are heading towards an increasingly two tier justice
system. “One where …
… Government is not funded to step in and fill these gaps in
legal aid provision, although, as acknowledged in the Thomas
report, we have attempted to at least meet some of the most
desperate areas of need.”
The UK Government removed legal aid from large areas of civil
law, while criminal cases are subject to means testing, to reduce
the annual cost of legal aid.
The Welsh Government’s Single Advice Fund supports people who
need advice and can help with representation at court and
tribunals, but it is not a replacement for legal aid.
...Calling for a different approach to criminal justice policy
and sentencing, the Counsel General added: “The single biggest
problem with Wales’ justice system is the number of people going
to prison, and the …
… power to set criminal justice policy and sentencing, we could
reduce the prison population and invest the savings in
alternatives to custody, or in the things that stop people
offending in the first place.”
The Legal Wales Conference, hosted at the Law Library at the Law
Courts in Cathays Park, provides a platform for discussion on
constitutional and legal developments in Wales.
