Criminal Legal Aid (Remuneration etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2015

Lord Cotter Excerpts

Monday 7th September 2015 Lords Chamber

I hope that the Lord Chancellor, who is plainly very interested in prison reform and has already made a significant contribution to change in prisons, will regard the sort of aspects of prison law that I have been talking about as part of the same picture and worthy of the modest investment that is involved in restoring legal aid to the sort of cases that I have been describing.

[Lord Cotter (LD)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for introducing this Motion to Regret, which I and many others hope will lead to a sustained examination of legal aid now and in the future, as a result in particular of the cuts proposed by the Government. My intervention will be very brief because I have no legal background whatever. I saw that this Motion was proposed for today, and I came to listen and to say a few words as, one may say, an ordinary member of the public.

I have listened to those who have a detailed knowledge of this field. I do not have that knowledge but I have had it put to me that there are grave concerns for the ordinary member of the public, who could be said to be at the bottom of the pile and might be induced—because of pressure and of feeling vulnerable—to shorten court proceedings and say, “Yes, I was guilty”. I may be wrong on that; others more expert than me may say, “No, that is not the case”. Is it the case that vulnerable people will suffer as a result of these proposals, as has been mentioned tonight?

My other concern is whether it is likely that fewer people will train for the legal field, which I trust the Government will look at. That is of great concern because there could be a shortage of legal practitioners, with the result of the service not being fit for purpose. With my lack of knowledge, I will sit down. Others have great knowledge to which I have listened, but I have great concerns on behalf of the ordinary public.