Dear Chris,

Re: Transforming Legal Aid

I read your opening ministerial statement in this lengthy document and had a moment of early confusion. You said:

“Unfortunately, over the past decade, the system has lost much of its credibility with the public.” Read the full story

“Technology has a critical role to play in delivering efficient criminal justice. Huge sums of money were spent on IT in the criminal justice agencies during the last decade, in particular the CJS IT programme, but the public did not secure a sufficient return on these substantial investments. Programmes, including LIBRA for the magistrates’ courts, and the C-NOMIS case management system for managing offenders, suffered years of delays, ran massively over budget, and failed to deliver the functionality promised.” Read the full story

The House of Lords concluded report stage of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill with three votes on Tuesday. The session on this fifth day went on until past midnight.

Lord Beecham (Labour) moved an amendment on referral fees. He said: “The amendment deals with the position of not-for-profit organisations. We are entirely at one with the Government in seeking to ban referral fees made to commercial organisations simply for the purpose of making profits. However, some organisations – be they charities or membership organisations – receive referral fees from firms of solicitors and perhaps from others…whose contributions help those organisations carry out their main purpose.” Read the full story

Last Monday Justice Secretary Ken Clarke went to the Commons to announce a consultation exercise on plans to improve the way the criminal justice system deals with victims of crime. He said: “Proper protection and support for those who have suffered at the hands of criminals is a fundamental part of a civilised justice system, yet ours is falling short in some respects.”

The planned shake-up will see the ending of payments for minor injuries. Some estimates are that more than 17,000 violent crime victims each year will be excluded entirely from the criminal injuries compensation scheme under the proposals, and many crime victims who suffer more serious injuries will face Read the full story

Now is the time for manifestos. Not to be outdone, the Law Society has issued its own. Strictly non-party political of course, but nevertheless aimed fairly and squarely at the current hustings. The Society recognises that: “The party in government following the general election will face a hostile and difficult environment. In facing that challenge, it must not forget the basic needs for justice and the rule of law. Read the full story

All crime legal aid providers have to sign a contract with the Legal Services Commission. The current Unified Contract (Crime) has been extended to 13 July 2010, and the new 2010 Standard Crime Contract will come into force on 14 July. The LSC has just announced the new tendering procedure, and the main points are as follows. Read the full story

A new report published last week by the Fawcett Society’s Commission on Women and the Criminal Justice System finds widespread discrimination in practices and attitudes towards women across the criminal justice system, Read the full story