Post by nickd on Mar 6, 2011 1:16:27 GMT 1
You don't get much higher in the judiciary than the Master of the Rolls, who has made his views known on what he thinks of legal aid minister Jonathon Djanogly's ideas on mediation and restricting people's access to the courts by axing Legal Aid.
The Law Gazette article makes some interesting points, especially when you view some of the posts made by readers over comparisons with the legal aid spending figure in England & Wales with other countries. The master says it is wrong to compare our system with America, because they attach little importance to looking after poorer people.
There are differing views over what the master says, but one poster has carried out a very analytical look at the spending comparisons.
From our point of view on Mylegal, no mention is made of how little of the overall spending figure is spent on the key areas of social welfare law.
Whilst the point of comparison between our prosecution related costs and those of other countries is undoubtedly relevant to the whole argument on legal aid, what's overlooked is how an inadequate social fabric is often what creates the environment where crime becomes more prevalent.
I'm sure there are studies on this but in the absence of them, I'll just pose the questions - Isn't it social deprivation which breeds crime? If we promote social justice to eradicate deprivation, do we not reduce crime and thus the costs of prosecutions fall?
I can't help but feel Djanogly has bitten off way more than he can chew here, he ought to listen to what his master is telling him, that's the one with the wig;- not the one with the fake tan Mr Djanogly.
Here's a bit of the article and the link....
Neuberger warns against mediation and defends legal aid and Jackson Friday 04 March 2011 by Rachel Rothwell
"The Master of the Rolls warned against mediation being used as a replacement for the courts, defended the cost of legal aid, and voiced strong support for Lord Justice Jackson’s civil justice reforms in a speech earlier this week.
Giving the annual Bentham Lecture, Lord Neuberger said that an ‘insidious’ notion exists that litigation is a bad thing, and that ‘other, more consensual means of resolving disputes are necessarily good things’.
He said that while the development of mediation had been ‘valuable’, it ‘cannot be the norm, or approach the norm’.
Neuberger said: ‘Access to the courts is not a privilege but a fundamental right.
‘But it is not merely fundamental principle which requires citizens to have access to the courts. Practicality demands it as well.
‘You cannot force people to mediate, and what if the party in the wrong refuses to mediate, or refuses to do so in good faith, or declines to be reasonable, or is simply badly advised, or takes an over-optimistic view of his case?"
www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/neuberger-warns-against-mediation-and-defends-legal-aid-and-jackson#comment-7717
The Law Gazette article makes some interesting points, especially when you view some of the posts made by readers over comparisons with the legal aid spending figure in England & Wales with other countries. The master says it is wrong to compare our system with America, because they attach little importance to looking after poorer people.
There are differing views over what the master says, but one poster has carried out a very analytical look at the spending comparisons.
From our point of view on Mylegal, no mention is made of how little of the overall spending figure is spent on the key areas of social welfare law.
Whilst the point of comparison between our prosecution related costs and those of other countries is undoubtedly relevant to the whole argument on legal aid, what's overlooked is how an inadequate social fabric is often what creates the environment where crime becomes more prevalent.
I'm sure there are studies on this but in the absence of them, I'll just pose the questions - Isn't it social deprivation which breeds crime? If we promote social justice to eradicate deprivation, do we not reduce crime and thus the costs of prosecutions fall?
I can't help but feel Djanogly has bitten off way more than he can chew here, he ought to listen to what his master is telling him, that's the one with the wig;- not the one with the fake tan Mr Djanogly.
Here's a bit of the article and the link....
Neuberger warns against mediation and defends legal aid and Jackson Friday 04 March 2011 by Rachel Rothwell
"The Master of the Rolls warned against mediation being used as a replacement for the courts, defended the cost of legal aid, and voiced strong support for Lord Justice Jackson’s civil justice reforms in a speech earlier this week.
Giving the annual Bentham Lecture, Lord Neuberger said that an ‘insidious’ notion exists that litigation is a bad thing, and that ‘other, more consensual means of resolving disputes are necessarily good things’.
He said that while the development of mediation had been ‘valuable’, it ‘cannot be the norm, or approach the norm’.
Neuberger said: ‘Access to the courts is not a privilege but a fundamental right.
‘But it is not merely fundamental principle which requires citizens to have access to the courts. Practicality demands it as well.
‘You cannot force people to mediate, and what if the party in the wrong refuses to mediate, or refuses to do so in good faith, or declines to be reasonable, or is simply badly advised, or takes an over-optimistic view of his case?"
www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/neuberger-warns-against-mediation-and-defends-legal-aid-and-jackson#comment-7717