Austerity Justice - Couverture souple

Hynes, Steve

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 1908407204 ISBN 13 : 9781908407207

Editeur : Legal Action Group, 2012

Synopsis

This book looks at how the civil legal safety net was established and why it is now under threat, due to a combination of austerity policies and the casual indifference of a few powerful politicians to the state s responsibility to provide a civil justice system that guarantees equality before the law regardless of means.

Over the last 40 years, the civil legal aid system provided by solicitors and barristers developed in parallel with the expansion of not for profit advice centres such as Citizens Advice Bureaux. These services, though not originally conceived as such, evolved into an important arm of the welfare state. They ensure effective redress for people facing the everyday problems that a crisis in their lives such as a divorce, long-term disability or losing a job can throw at them. The austerity measures of the current coalition government mean that from next year this will become a much reduced service.

Access to justice policy might be at its lowest ebb, but the campaign against the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders (LASPO) Act 2012 could have sown the seeds of recovery. The debate over the Act led to a tipping point between members of the coalition government. Some ministers wanted a once-and-for-all redesign, closing off any chance that the legal aid system could expand again to meet the civil legal needs of the public. lndividual Liberal Democrat and Conservative parliamentarians, the Labour Opposition, and the weight of informed non-party political opinion, represented by crossbenchers in the Lords, were opposed to this. Key concessions were won including a section in the LASPO Act which allows amendments to the scope of legal aid to be made in the future.

Contents include: The peaks and troughs of legal aid; The big society - civil legal advice prior to 1949; Legal aid from Rushcliffe to Mackay 1949-1997; Legal rights - chicken and egg; New Labour reforms 1997-2002; The politicians take control 2003-2010; Coalition proposals for reform; A rump service; Campaigners get their ducks in a line; Amendments and concessions.

Austerity Justice is a major contribution to an important area of political debate. It will be of great interest to legal aid practitioners, commentators and campaigners, and essential reading for policy-makers, politicians, academics and students of legal and social policy and all those concerned with access to justice.

A propos du livre

À propos de l?auteur

Steve Hynes is Legal Action Group's director. He is a well known commentator in the written and broadcast media on legal aid and access to justice issues. Prior to joining LAG Steve was the director of the Law Centres Federation (LCF) and has worked as manager of a citizens advice bureau in Manchester as well as Rochdale Law Centre®.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Legal Action Group
• Date d'édition: 2012
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 1908407204
• ISBN 13: 9781908407207
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 182
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible