The family bar is ‘close to breaking point’ as repeated legal aid cuts are driving experienced barristers away from their work, leaving vulnerable women and children at risk, according to a study, commissioned by the Bar Council and the Family Law Bar Association (FLBA).
The Legal Services Commission and the Ministry of Justice are set to implement changes to the family graduated fee scheme to save £6.5m in order to control a budget which the government says has risen unsustainably from £74m to £100m in the past five years.
The FLBA said the cuts would see payments reduced by up to 55% in some cases, which would have a severe impact on vulnerable women and children.
Desmond Browne QC, Bar Council chairman (pictured), said: ‘This compelling report provides hard evidence that government policies are driving skilled advocates out of the family justice system, leaving the most vulnerable exposed to miscarriages of justice.’
‘It is especially regrettable that barristers are effectively penalised for doing legally aided family work, rather than privately paying work, and that this is hitting women and black and minority ethnic advocates hardest of all.’
Lucy Theis QC, FLBA chairwoman, said: ‘Government and policy-makers need to take heed of the consequences their decisions are having for the sharp end of a system designed to prevent abuse.’
She said it was possible to design a fair pay system that reflected the varying complexity of individual cases while securing the interests of justice and value for the taxpayer.
Dr Deborah Price, the report’s lead author said: ‘The work of the family bar bears a heavy responsibility: the consequences of failure in advocating s a client’s case are severe, and include the risk of children being returned to perpetrators of child abuse, the removal of a child from home and the loss of parental rights, domestic violence and homelessness.’
She said the amount paid to family barristers for legal aid word already lags behind private rates and rates paid by local authorities. ‘These differences are substantial and already create significant inequalities in representation in divorce cases between those who can afford to pay for a barrister themselves and those who can’t.’
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