A contingent legal aid fund (CLAF) could ensure access to justice and help solve the legal aid crisis, according to a report published today by a Bar Council thinktank.

The Policy Advisory Group, led by former bar chairman Guy Mansfield QC, proposes a self-funding, not-for-profit scheme to help those people whose cases are deemed to be worthwhile, but fall outside the scope of the current civil legal aid regime.

The report – The Merits of a Contingent Legal Aid Fund – suggests the fund would be managed by financial professionals who would decide which claims would be supported. A proportion of the winnings from successful cases would be paid back into the CLAF pool to fund future claims.

The report comes ahead of the review of costs and access to justice being conducted by Lord Justice Jackson, which is expected in December, following a consultation that opens in May.

The Bar Council looked at the idea of a CLAF in a 1998 report. Mansfield’s group says the legal aid landscape has changed substantially since then – with cuts in civil legal aid, the growth of conditional fee agreements (CFAs), rising costs of litigation and the emergence of third-party funding – and the proposal should now be revisited.

Mansfield said: ‘We have formed the firm provisional view that a CLAF in the broad sense has much to offer and should be pursued further.’

He stressed: ‘A CLAF should not be seen as a replacement for conventional legal aid or indeed CFAs, but as a useful supplement.’

Nicholas Green QC, vice-chairman of the bar, said: ‘To address the lack of available public funds and to provide effective access to justice we need imaginative solutions.’

He said the Bar Council would need to examine the idea closely, but in essence it could offer real advantages and be in the public interest.