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Legal Aid Agency

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Legal Aid Agency
Formation1 April 2013
Legal statusExecutive Agency
HeadquartersLondon
Region served
England and Wales
Chief Executive
Jane Harbottle
Websitegov.uk/laa

The Legal Aid Agency is an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) in the United Kingdom. It provides both civil and criminal legal aid and advice in England and Wales.[1] The agency was formed on 1 April 2013 as a replacement for the Legal Services Commission, which unlike the Legal Aid Agency, was a non-departmental public body of the MoJ. This change was enacted by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 to allow for greater ministerial control over the UK government's legal aid budget.

Chief executive

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Until recently, the agency's Chief Executive, the Director of Legal Casework, was Shaun McNally (since April 2016.)[2] However, in March 2021 this role has now been taken over by Jane Harbottle, who has herself confirmed "it is an honour."[3]

The Chief Executive's role primarily involved achieving the departments policies, ensuring a diverse and competent workforce, as well as making sure the Legal Aid Agency meets statutory obligations.[4] It is also his or her decision about legal aid funding in individual cases.[5]

Achievements

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In 2019, the Legal Aid Agency processed 91% of civil applications for legal aid within 20 days, and 100% of crime applications within 2 days. In total, they processed 400,000 applications for legal aid.[4]

Criticism

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The Legal Aid Agency has been criticised by the Law Society because many areas of the country have little or no legal aid providers.[6] Additionally, there have been disapprovals of the Legal Aid Agency's handling of exceptional case funding (ECF). ECF is legal funding for a case which does not fall within the scope of LASPO.[7] The Legal Aid Agency had planned for 5,000 to 7,000 applications for ECF in the first year post LASPO, however only achieved 1,520.[8]

Further criticism stems from the Legal Aid Agency's payment and treatment of legal aid providers. Funding provided by the Legal Aid Agency can often take years to come through to barristers.[9] This was identified by the Law Society of England and Wales during the pandemic, who pushed for further guidance from the Legal Aid Agency regarding cash flow problems.[10] The Law Society also expressed their view in a different report that fees provided by the Legal Aid Agency should be paid more fairly, and cover out-of-work hours performed by legal aid providers.[11]

In 2017, the Bach Commission called for the replacement of the Legal Aid Agency with an independent body that does not have any government involvement.[12]

In a 2018 High court Judgement, the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) lost another Judicial Review.[13] The case was to decide how much the LAA pays out in complex fraud cases. [14]

In 2021, leading solicitors launched legal action against the Legal Aid Agency (LAA). The Judicial Review was called because the LAA did not consult solicitors on changes to bringing cost assessment in house. This would mean there would be no independent review of how much the LAA would payout. So essentially the LAA would not be able to dispute payment with itself. [15]

References

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  1. ^ "Legal Aid Agency". Gov.uk. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  2. ^ "Shaun McNally CBE". Gov.uk. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  3. ^ "Jane Harbottle appointed legal aid agency chief executive". Gov.uk. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Legal Aid Agency Annual Reports and Accounts" (PDF). Gov.uk. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  5. ^ "The Legal Aid Agency". linkedin. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  6. ^ "LASPO 4 years on: Law Society Review". The Law Society. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  7. ^ "Legal aid: apply for exceptional case funding". Gov.uk. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  8. ^ Sarah Moore, Alex Newbury (2017). Legal aid in crisis: Assessing the impact of reform. Bristol: Bristol University Press. p. 39.
  9. ^ The Secret Barrister. Picador. 2018. ISBN 978-1509841141.
  10. ^ "Coronavirus Guidance for Legal Aid Providers". The Law Society.
  11. ^ "Criminal Legal Aid Review". The Law Society.
  12. ^ "Bach Commission Report: the Right to Justice". UK Parliament. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  13. ^ "Solicitors' leaders launch legal action against the Legal Aid Agency". British and Irish Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  14. ^ "Legal Aid Agency loses judicial review on fees in complex cases". Legal Action Group. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  15. ^ "Solicitors' leaders launch legal action against the Legal Aid Agency". Law Society. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
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