So, the government is to set up court advice centres for litigants in person. Having once had the displeasure of representing myself in the county court, I should like to point out that the easiest, and most LiP-friendly, place for obtaining legal information is a public library rather than a court building. But, thanks to cost-cutting by local authorities, there is no longer any such thing as a public law library, which is surely a disgrace. There are not even up-to-date textbooks.
Online information is simply not good enough for those with no knowledge of the law. Typically, DIY lawyers do not even know where to start or what to Google.
Moreover, the government apparently cannot see further than its own nose with regard to the justice system. That system is as good as it is partly because case law is made by barristers in an interactive process with judges. The legal arguments of LiPs are simply not the right material for the creation of common law.
When there are large numbers of LiPs in the High Court, the quality of the law itself rapidly goes downhill.
I would like to see a lawyer send a spoof claim to justice secretary Chris Grayling, a non-lawyer, challenging him to defend himself without help from civil servants or the House of Commons library. And, when he repeatedly gets it wrong, perhaps he might be given a (spoof) civil restraint order.
Helen Borodzicz, London N3
