The Law Society welcomed the new coalition government’s pledge to seek a better balance between state surveillance and privacy this week, while legal aid lawyers said they hoped Kenneth Clarke’s appointment as justice secretary will spell good news for access to justice.
Among the proposals set out in the coalition agreement between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, the parties agreed to implement a programme of measures designed to ‘reverse the substantial erosion of civil liberties under the Labour government and roll back state intrusion’.
The government said it intended to create a Freedom or Great Repeal bill designed to scrap superfluous legislation. Other policies include dumping the ID card scheme; a review of the libel laws; extending the Freedom of Information Act; and the introduction of a new mechanism to prevent the proliferation of unnecessary new criminal offences.
Law Society president Robert Heslett said: ‘In respect of its manifesto proposals on seeking a proper balance between state surveillance and the reasonable expectation of privacy, the Society welcomes the coalition’s plans to scrap ID cards, the national identity register, the next generation of biometric passports and the storage of internet and email records without good reason.
‘It is very pleased to note further proposals to regulate CCTV, provide safeguards against the misuse of anti-terrorism legislation and adopt the protections of the Scottish model for the DNA database.’
Heslett said Chancery Lane also supported the coalition’s commitment to law reform, in particular the repeal bill, and moves to limit the creation of new criminal offences.
Meanwhile, the surprise appointment of Kenneth Clarke appears to have proved popular with legal aid lawyers, who hope that having a political heavyweight with financial and business knowledge will assist in battles with the Treasury.
Ian Kelcey, chairman of the Law Society’s criminal law committee, said: ‘If anyone can negotiate with the Treasury, he should be able to.’
Legal Aid Practitioners Group director Carol Storer said: ‘We hope he will not just look at the legal aid budget in a vacuum, but consider the impact on clients and lawyers of the recent, and any future, budget cuts.’
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