Boost for swifter justice as legal aid consultation launches
- 24 January 2025
Plans to overhaul the legal aid system in England and Wales were published today (24 January 2025) by the Ministry of Justice, aiming to speed up access to justice and ensure everyone has equal access to the justice system.
The consultation, which runs until 21 April 2025, seeks views on how to improve the efficiency of the system, make it easier for people to get the help they need, and ensure that legal aid is targeted at those who need it most.
Justice Secretary Dominic Raab said:
“Legal aid is a vital part of our justice system, ensuring that everyone has access to justice regardless of their background or financial means. However, the current system is too slow and complex, and it is not always reaching those who need it most.
“These proposals will overhaul the system to make it swifter, simpler and more effective. We want to make sure that everyone who needs legal aid can get it quickly and easily, so that they can get the justice they deserve.”
The consultation proposes a number of reforms, including:
- Introducing a new ‘triage’ system to assess applications for legal aid more quickly and efficiently
- Streamlining the process for obtaining legal aid, making it easier for people to apply
- Expanding the scope of legal aid to cover more types of cases
- Increasing the number of legal aid providers, to ensure that there is a wider choice of providers available
- Introducing a new system of payment for legal aid providers, to make it fairer and more transparent
The consultation also seeks views on how to improve the quality of legal aid provision, and how to ensure that legal aid is targeted at those who need it most.
The consultation is open to everyone, and the Ministry of Justice is particularly keen to hear from people who have experience of using the legal aid system.
The consultation can be found on the Ministry of Justice website: www.justice.gov.uk/publications/legal-aid-consultation-2025/
Boost for swifter justice as legal aid consultation launches
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