The government’s legal aid reforms could undermine the reputation of the English legal system and deter people from doing business in the UK, the chairman-elect of the Bar Council has warned.
Michael Todd QC (pictured) told the Gazette that the English legal system boasts exceptional judges and practitioners who are known to be supremely adept at constructing contracts and drafting.
But he said: ‘What is attractive to people when they think of doing business in the UK is the fact that we adhere to and promote the rule of law and access to justice.’
Todd warned that the government’s plans to restrict legal aid would deny access to justice to many who lacked financial means, and undermine the rule of law.
He said this could damage the reputation of the English legal system and deter commercial clients from wanting to use its centres for dispute resolution and commercial law services.
‘If you undermine the system of justice, I fear it may affect the perception that people have of the English legal system and their desire to use it, and may make people think twice about whether they want to do business here,’ he said.
He added: ‘I’m not attacking the government, but when you are trying to promote UK plc and the use of its legal services, you need to think about the perception that people may gain from the impact of the reforms.’
Earlier this year, the Ministry of Justice published a plan to promote the UK’s legal services internationally.
Todd said: ‘That plan doesn’t sit terribly well with damaging access to justice. There is a contradiction. We do not want to be seen to provide access to justice to those who can afford to pay, while denying it to those who cannot.’
An MoJ spokesman said that the current legal aid system, which costs £2bn a year, encourages lengthy, acrimonious and sometimes unnecessary court proceedings at the taxpayers’ expense.
Choices have to be made to ensure that legal aid remains available to the most vulnerable and to promote an efficient justice system, he added.
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