Improving Access to Justice

Submitted by: 14 party members
Mover: Josh Babarinde MP (Spokesperson for Justice).
Summation: Ben Maguire MP (Shadow Attorney General).

Conference believes that:

1. Equal access to justice for all is a fundamental right in any democratic society.
2. Legal aid is a proud cornerstone of the British criminal justice system and should be available to everyone who needs it.
3. Being denied access to justice can further exacerbate inequalities facing the most vulnerable in our society.
4. Reaching a fair resolution at the earliest possible stage of any legal dispute is in the best interests of all.

Conference notes with grave concern that under the former Conservative Government, years of cuts and mismanagement has damaged communities’ access to both civil and criminal legal aid.

Conference further notes that:

1. Cuts to legal aid have damaged access to justice and increased the number of unrepresented litigants.
2. The number of legal aid deserts – areas with no access to legal aid providers – across the country are on the rise, with rural and coastal communities particularly impacted.
3. More than 42 million people in England and Wales are denied access to a community care legal aid provider in their area, accounting for nearly 70% of the population.
4. Legal aid providers are increasingly forced to close as legal aid fees are not sufficient to meet their working costs, with 82% of housing and family legal aid providers reporting that civil legal aid work is loss–making.
5. The legal aid means test has not been uprated in line with inflation since 2009, despite the cost of living crisis – leaving thousands without affordable access to justice.
6. In 2022, the Legal Aid Means Test Review recommended to significantly increase thresholds for legal aid eligibility and remove the means test entirely for some civil cases to improve equal access to justice – but the Government has delayed its implementation until 2026.
7. A lack of legal aid is further exacerbating court backlogs, with estimates showing that hearings involving unrepresented litigants last 50% longer.
8. Despite the role that early legal advice can play in diverting cases away from the courts, saving public money and improving outcomes, its availability through legal aid is plummeting.
9. Since 2015, 94 courts and tribunals have been closed throughout England and Wales.
10. A long–awaited fee increase was secured for criminal legal aid last year, following the 2021 Bellamy Report which recommended an immediate funding uplift as “the minimum necessary… first step in nursing the system of criminal legal aid back to health after years of neglect”.
11. Too many survivors and victims of domestic abuse are being left without the support they need in the justice system, with 29% of survivors representing themselves in 2023 compared to 15% in 2011.

Conference acknowledges that increasing spending on legal aid will ultimately save money, with numerous studies showing that early access to legal advice can help tackle problems before they escalate, improve outcomes and prevent cases from going to court unnecessarily.

Conference therefore calls on the Government to:

1. Establish a new right to affordable, reasonable legal assistance with a new, independent Justice Commission to monitor and enforce it.
2. Make the legal aid system simpler and more generous for both civil and criminal cases by:
   1. Immediately implementing the recommendations of the Legal Aid Means Test Review.
   2. Placing a duty on ministers to ensure equal access to justice for all regardless of their community’s location, addressing legal aid deserts as a priority.
3. Prioritise solving legal problems before they escalate – improving outcomes and saving public money in the long–run by:
   1. Reintroducing legal aid for early legal advice for both civil and criminal cases, with a particular focus on family and housing cases.
   2. Improving access to mediation through legal aid, especially for family cases.
   3. Providing funding to local authorities and the Legal Aid Agency to roll out ‘Law Start Centres’ in every community that bring together early legal advice and signposting services for other local legal aid providers to ensure people get the early support they deserve.
4. Develop and implement an access to justice data strategy to allow for a better assessment of legal aid schemes’ efficiencies and effectiveness.
5. Work with legal aid providers and the Legal Aid Agency to determine what administrative tasks are using disproportionate amounts of providers’ time and how those processes could be streamlined to improve efficiency, including by exploring the potential benefits of incorporating the use of new technologies.
6. Reform the Exceptional Case Funding scheme for legal aid, including simplifying the application process, to ensure that no one is prevented from enforcing their human rights by a lack of funds.
7. Bring forward a plan to increase access to community court buildings, including by restoring existing ones where possible.

Applicability: England and Wales.

Mover: 7 minutes; summation of motion and movers and summation of any amendments: 4 minutes; all other speakers: 3 minutes. For eligibility and procedure for speaking in this debate, see pages 6-7 of the agenda. You can submit a speaker's card online here from Monday 15 September up to 15.20 Monday 22 September or in person.

The deadline for amendments to this motion is 13.00 Monday 8 September; you can submit amendments online here, see pages 9–10 of the agenda for more information. Those selected for debate will be printed in Conference Extra and Monday’s Conference Daily. The deadline for requests for separate votes is 09.00 Sunday 21 September; you can request separate votes here, see page 5 of the agenda for more information.