MoJ kicks timetable for civil legal aid review into long grass

From the Law Society Gazette:

Urgent reforms to save the civil legal aid sector may never see the light of day in the current parliament it has emerged following the government’s decision to push back the timetable for its review on building a sustainable system.

The civil legal aid review was announced in January 2023. Economic analysis and comparative research were supposed to conclude by the end of this month. This would be followed by a consultation on final policy proposals. However, in a letter seen by the Gazette, the civil legal aid review team said on Monday that the review findings will be published in phases and a ‘green paper’ will be published this summer.

The letter says a phased approach ‘allows more time to build a strong evidence base that is capable of supporting high-quality policy development’.

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