The Independent Review of Legal Aid (the “Review”) was chaired by Sir Christopher Bellamy QC and was commissioned due to long-standing concerns about the lack of funding for criminal legal aid in England and Wales. The overall finding of the Review is that changes to the current structure would be unlikely to improve the cost, quality and efficiency but that significant investment to the current is required to prevent the system from collapse. The area which ought to be prioritised for investment is the Youth Court, recognising the importance of specialist advice for vulnerable children and young people. Additionally, the Review recommends a training and accreditation scheme to be put in place for Youth Court work.
Details
The Review is comprehensive in its consideration of the current system of legal aid, but in respect of children and young people, it makes specific recommendations in respect of both the current system of police station representation and Youth Court practice.
The Review identifies the low take-up of police station advice generally (around 56% of arrested suspects request free legal advice) as concerning, and notes that in the case of young or vulnerable detainees at the police station the system should be adapted so that a lawyer is automatically contacted unless the detainee refuses, a measure which is to be piloted in certain areas. An additional recommendation is the development of alternative methods to advise detainees of their rights in the police station such as by way of an app for use on a tablet or similar device. The Review additionally notes that there ought to be specific training for advisers dealing with young or vulnerable detainees, and some form of accreditation should be built into the police station qualification.
In considering the operation of the Youth Court, the Review notes that the same concerns exist as across the system regarding delays between the date of offence and appearing in court, delays on the day of hearing and the late service of documents. The focus is, however, on remuneration which the Review identifies as being seriously undervalued and not sustainable at current levels. It states:
“This work requires serious specialised knowledge dealing with highly vulnerable children, often with learning difficulties and behavioural disorders, who may themselves be victims of social or familydeprivation or even modern slavery. Building up trust and understanding is time consuming and challenging, yet the fee levels are such that youth cases may be undertaken by junior or inexperienced lawyers, who may have sometimes received the papers only shortly beforehand and have only a very short opportunity to meet the client, try to explain what is going on and win the client’s trust and understanding.”
The Review, therefore, recommends that the Youth Court is given priority in the allocation of resources, which should be increased significantly to reflect the seriousness and importance of this work. The Review recommends that cases in the Youth Court that would otherwise be triable in the Crown Court (defined as all except summary offences) should qualify for a certificate for counsel unless exceptional reasons apply. However, this uplift must be accompanied by an accreditation scheme for Youth Court work to ensure that those fees are only payable to those practitioners who have the requisite training or experience to undertake this specialist work.
Commentary
YJLC supports the findings of the Review, which underlines the importance of the principles which the YJLC has long campaigned for – better training and remuneration for those who practise in this complex and specialist area of the law in recognition of the importance of protecting the rights of the vulnerable children and young people who enter the criminal justice system. We now await the response of the Ministry of Justice in March 2022 to see to what extent the Review’s recommendations will be implemented.
Written by
Vivien Cochrane, Partner, Shearman Bowen