Issue 192  8th May 2021

Criminal legal aid solicitors have suffered a 50% real-terms pay cut over the past 25 years, a government-commissioned review of the sector has been told. Using the Bank of England’s inflation calculator, the London Criminal Courts Solicitors’ Association adjusted 1996 rates for inflation and compared what the equivalent rates would be now and what they actually are. The shocking comparison is laid out in the association’s submission to the Independent Review of Criminal Legal Aid’s call for evidence, which closes today.

For magistrates’ court fees, the London rate for preparation was £47.25 in 1996 and £45.35 in 2021. The 1996 rate adjusted for inflation would be £90.70 – showing the 2021 rate to be a 50% real-terms reduction. To attend court with assigned counsel, the 2021 rate is £31.03 - 47% down on the inflation adjusted 1996 rate.

The polls have closed across Britain in the biggest set of votes since the 2019 general election... Voters in England and Wales also voted for police and crime commissioners...

Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) make sure that the local police in their area are meeting the needs of the community. There are 41 areas across England and Wales with a PCC. Each area has one commissioner. Elections for PCCs take place every four years.

Remote hearings deliver a ‘markedly inferior experience’ and degrade human interaction, professional bodies across the British Isles have said. In a joint statement, the Bar Councils of England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and Ireland, together with Scotland’s Faculty of Advocates, said that virtual hearings have ‘multiple and multi-faceted disadvantages’ compared with in-person proceedings...

The professional bodies said they are in favour of remote hearings becoming the default position for short or uncontroversial procedural business. ‘However, for any hearing that is potentially dispositive of all or part of a case, the default position should be “in-person” hearings. Remote hearings should be available as an option in such cases where all parties (including the court) agree that proceeding in that way would be appropriate.’

The Post Office is contacting 540 former sub-postmasters and sub-mistresses who may have been wrongfully convicted of theft and fraud. Dozens of post office workers were convicted - with some imprisoned - after the Post Office installed the flawed Horizon system. Last month, 39 had their convictions quashed by the Court of Appeal. Flora Page, who represented three appellants, called the letters to the 540 a "direct result" of the judgment. The Post Office is contacting its former employees with potentially relevant convictions. Additional information is being sought in a further 100 cases.