What is the problem with the legal aid system?
Over the past few years, more innocent people have been convicted and more guilty people have walked free because the criminal justice system is broken following years of underfunding. Therefore, with the criminal justice system as it is, if you have not got money to pay for your defence, you may well really struggle to get justice. The difficulty is, the resources are no longer there for the majority of cases. I am contacted on a regular basis by the family and friends of people who have been convicted of sexual offences only to hear that they believe that they have been wrongly convicted. These comments are usually accompanied by ones to the effect that the solicitor(s) or Counsel (barrister) have not done what they should have done in order to project a proper a defence. I so often hear the comment,
What is the issue with using a Duty Solicitor/ Legal Aid Lawyer?
The rates of pay for Legal Aid work are atrocious and nothing like the private hourly fees, or fixed fees, charged to private paying clients. The MoJ has suffered the largest cuts of any Government department. This means that Legal Aid defence solicitors put under a great deal of pressure. Although not reliant on the MoJ, the CPS and police are also under pressures of their own. If you mix that with an element of incompetence on some occasions, across the board, you face the perfect storm. There are yet more cuts to come.
Legal Aid lawyers get a fixed fee regardless of how long they attend upon someone at a Police Station, whereas if you pay privately, not only do you get a choice of solicitor, but the solicitor can stay with you as long as is necessary, free from the constraints of Legal Aid.
If someone is arrested, what they say to the police in their first interview is one of the most important parts of the entire sequence of events.
If you can afford it, you can have the lawyer of your choice who is likely to speak to the police, get to the bottom of the facts with you and be proactive.
I specialise in representation for sexual offences which is a complex area of law.
