LEGAL AID 2

Liberty director says justice secretary's £350m budget cut leaves only footballers and criminal defendants able to get legal advice. Cases involving children's special educational needs were the only category spared by Ken Clarke when he unveiled £350m of cuts to the annual £2.1bn legal aid budget. Insisting that England and Wales had "much the most expensive legal aid system in the world", the justice secretary said Britons were paying £39-a-head for the service and that the service could only be retained for serious cases.

Legal aid should be available for claims "where people's life or liberty is at stake", where they are at risk of serious physical harm, or immediate loss of their home, or where their children may be taken into care, he said. One anticipated change, expanding the definition of what constitutes domestic violence to incorporate psychological abuse, is likely to preserve legal aid support for more litigants in divorces and separations than originally expected.

But lawyers and social justice groups reacted with fury to confirmation that "no win, no fee" cases would become more difficult to fund and that claimants in many areas, including medical negligence, would no longer be entitled to legal aid. Clarke's failure to push through his 50% sentencing reduction plans, means that the Ministry of Justice will still have to identify a further £100m in cuts over the coming four years. (Source: The Guardian, Jun/11)

The 1,000 families seeking to prove that the MMR jab caused severe disability in their children have had their Legal Aid cut off. These are parents and children enduring a life sentence of unimaginable grief. After having the triple jab, seemingly healthy kids now suffer from autism, epilepsy and bowel disorders.

They claim there is a direct link between the jab and the change in their children. The medical profession, the government and now the courts refute this. The families are appealing against the decision to deny them Legal Aid. God knows they deserve their day in court.

It is an insult to justice and humanity that there is no Legal Aid for the families of the MMR children. Yet Legal Aid was found for nine armed Afghan hijackers, for a Lithuanian family of asylum seekers who considered their council flat too small, and for the prisoner who was cruelly denied a second helping of rhubarb crumble in his jail canteen. It's good to know that Legal Aid is being saved for the really deserving cases.

Criminals are being awarded Legal Aid to fight Government attempts to strip them of their luxury lifestyles. The head of the agency set up by Home Secretary David Blunkett to confiscate criminals' homes, fast cars, jewellery and businesses called for a change in the law.

The Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) freezes the assets of people suspected of making money illegally and then seeks to strip them of those funds, which can sometimes run into millions of pounds. While the criminals attempt to fight the case and win back their assets, they may be entitled to Legal Aid.

ARA director Jane Earl said politicians need to change the rules so that part of the frozen assets can be made available to the criminal to spend on his or her legal bill, instead of it being footed by the taxpayer. ARA officials were unable to give exact figures on the number of targets who had won Legal Aid but all who applied for Legal Aid did have to go through a means test.

"Some have applied and been refused," said ARA legal head Sue Edwards. "The Legal Services Commission has been looking quite carefully at this and has been making modifications to the system so that, whilst controlling the budget and controlling exactly what goes out, they will grant Legal Aid in appropriate cases."

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