Barristers are on strike over Legal Aid funding
(Picture: PA)The director of the Legal Aid Agency has issued a grovelling apology after a catalogue of errors delayed a High Court case which could have major ramifications in the ongoing barristers strike.
Thousands of Crown Court hearings around the country have been disrupted since barristers voted overwhelming to go on strike in their Legal Aid feud with the government.
Judges have now started to allow defendants awaiting their trial in prison to be set free on bail, as the justice system is paralysed by chronic delays.
The Crown Prosecution Service is mounting a challenge to the decisions not to extend Custody Time Limits for defendants, and an urgent hearing had been scheduled for Thursday in the High Court.
However the hearing could not take place as planned, because of delays in the granting of Legal Aid to lawyers involving the challenge.
The High Court battle is a key moment in the Legal Aid dispute, as government comes under increasing pressure to find a solution that will encourage barristers to return to work.
That pressure is likely to increase significantly if the deadlock continues and large numbers of defendants are set free from prison while awaiting their trials.
At Isleworth, a suspected arsonist has already been freed after a judge concluded he did not have the power extend custody time limits further, while judges in Oxford, Leicester, Bristol, Bolton, and Manchester have reached similar decisions.
Malcolm Birdling, representing the Legal Aid Agency, offered an apology from chief executive Jane Harbottle over failings that meant the High Court challenge has been delayed.
He said the agency accepted the “unsatisfactory way in which applications for civil Legal Aid were handled”, and has resolved to fix the problems.
Mr Birdling told Dame Victoria Sharp, the President of the King’s Bench Division, and Mr Justice Chamberlain that two of the applications for civil Legal Aid had been lodged last Friday but were wrongly not prioritised for an urgent decision and funding was only granted on Wednesday.
“The director accepts that delay was unacceptable”, he said, adding that lawyers had also been wrongly told to submit their applications – initially put forward on paper – for a second time through a digital system.
“It looks like the applications made on paper didn’t reach the right people”, he said.
Mr Birdling said the application for Legal Aid for a third defendant involved in the High Court battle may have been lost entirely by the agency.
“There is no record of an application being made”, he told the court. “It may be due to an administrative error on the LAA’s side.”
The director has resolved to send out new guidance to criminal lawyers on submitting civil Legal Aid claims, update internal instructions to staff so urgent cases are prioritised, and set up a dedicated email address to try to ensure applications are not lost.
Dame Victoria commented the failures have “led us to the position where we can’t now have the hearing”.
She agreed to the challenge now being heard by the court on Monday, September 26.
The court was also told new Justice SecretaryBrandon Lewis has asked to be removed as an interested party in the Judicial Review challenge.
Barristers are striking over Legal Aid fees which are due to be increased by the government on September 30 by 15 per cent.
The increase does not apply to the 60,000 cases already in the crown court backlog, and the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) says a 25 per cent increase is needed to make up for years of decay.
Thousands of court hearings and trials have been adjourned due to the strike, adding to lengthy delays in the court system, and the judges who refused to extend Custody Time Limits pointed the finger of blame at the government for not acting to end the strike and ensure Legal Aid-funded barristers are in court.
CBA chair Kirsty Brimelow KC is due to sit down for talks with Mr Lewis on Tuesday, September 20.
