Post by jman on Jun 1, 2011 11:12:32 GMT 1
Netmums have joined the fight against legal aid cuts
"Netmums has joined the campaign against the Government’s proposed cuts to Legal Aid(**). If the Government’s current plans go ahead as they stand, one of the first major casualties will be women’s rights to legal aid, in relation to domestic violence, clinical negligence and education.
According to Netmums’ co-founder, Sally Russell:
“For the Government, it’s all about saving money. For us, it’s all about saving vulnerable families… That’s why we’re asking our one million members to make their voices heard in support of a better alternative to Ken Clarke’s current plan.”
A survey conducted by Rights of Women, conducted in December last year and January this year, showed that 100% of respondents were concerned about violence against women.
* Over 50% had suffered domestic violence or abuse
* Of these, over half chose not to report it to the Police or to apply to the Courts for protection
* Victims of gender-based violence also needed advice on divorce (33%) children (24%) and housing (24%) according to the surveys.
According to Rights of Women Director, Emma Scott:
“There is absolutely no doubt -Legal Aid saves lives, protects children and enables families to live lives free from violence. If the current proposals are adopted, women will have to deal with all these issues on their own.”
soundoffforjustice.org/netmums
(**) Legal aid cuts will leave ‘half a million’ without proper representation
The Law Society find it surprising – and disappointing – that the current justice secretary appears to prefer to make cuts targeted to reduce the legal aid budget by £350m – which could put genuine redress beyond the reach of half a million people – without assessing the wider impact on access to justice for all of us.
This would be serious enough in its own right but what makes it worse – and incomprehensible to us – is that we have offered a fully costed alternative, which would save £384m in the next 12 months when fully implemented and preserve the rights to legal aid for all those who need it most.
Buried within it will be swingeing cuts to the provision of legal aid including for cases of domestic violence, intractable family disputes, clinical negligence and education. If Clarke has his way, professional support in these areas will be withdrawn completely.
As currently conceived, the cuts will mean that the poorest and most vulnerable members of society may be unable to assert their rights under the law.
Claimants before the court seek fairness. If they have been wronged, they want the wrong to be righted. If they or their children have been the object of domestic violence or abuse, they want the protection of civil action, help in extracting themselves from the abusive relationship, not just the protection of the police in emergency situations. If they have suffered at the hands of the NHS, however unintentionally, they have every right to compensation – yet claims for clinical negligence will be excluded from legal aid!
Working with the Legal Action Group and others, the Law Society has produced a list of no fewer than 17 fully costed proposals, which could save £384m in a single year. Why are they being ignored, we ask ourselves?
What is particularly galling is that, by their own admission, the Ministry of Justice is proposing cuts, which may add up to £350m on paper but which do not take into account the impacts on other departments when they are implemented.
To us, it looks like a case of “cut first and ask questions afterwards”.
Our “Sound off for Justice” campaign is designed to help stop the “Big Society” from making its first big mistake – soundoffforjustice.org/the-campaign"
womensgrid.freecharity.org.uk/?p=7395
"Netmums has joined the campaign against the Government’s proposed cuts to Legal Aid(**). If the Government’s current plans go ahead as they stand, one of the first major casualties will be women’s rights to legal aid, in relation to domestic violence, clinical negligence and education.
According to Netmums’ co-founder, Sally Russell:
“For the Government, it’s all about saving money. For us, it’s all about saving vulnerable families… That’s why we’re asking our one million members to make their voices heard in support of a better alternative to Ken Clarke’s current plan.”
A survey conducted by Rights of Women, conducted in December last year and January this year, showed that 100% of respondents were concerned about violence against women.
* Over 50% had suffered domestic violence or abuse
* Of these, over half chose not to report it to the Police or to apply to the Courts for protection
* Victims of gender-based violence also needed advice on divorce (33%) children (24%) and housing (24%) according to the surveys.
According to Rights of Women Director, Emma Scott:
“There is absolutely no doubt -Legal Aid saves lives, protects children and enables families to live lives free from violence. If the current proposals are adopted, women will have to deal with all these issues on their own.”
soundoffforjustice.org/netmums
(**) Legal aid cuts will leave ‘half a million’ without proper representation
The Law Society find it surprising – and disappointing – that the current justice secretary appears to prefer to make cuts targeted to reduce the legal aid budget by £350m – which could put genuine redress beyond the reach of half a million people – without assessing the wider impact on access to justice for all of us.
This would be serious enough in its own right but what makes it worse – and incomprehensible to us – is that we have offered a fully costed alternative, which would save £384m in the next 12 months when fully implemented and preserve the rights to legal aid for all those who need it most.
Buried within it will be swingeing cuts to the provision of legal aid including for cases of domestic violence, intractable family disputes, clinical negligence and education. If Clarke has his way, professional support in these areas will be withdrawn completely.
As currently conceived, the cuts will mean that the poorest and most vulnerable members of society may be unable to assert their rights under the law.
Claimants before the court seek fairness. If they have been wronged, they want the wrong to be righted. If they or their children have been the object of domestic violence or abuse, they want the protection of civil action, help in extracting themselves from the abusive relationship, not just the protection of the police in emergency situations. If they have suffered at the hands of the NHS, however unintentionally, they have every right to compensation – yet claims for clinical negligence will be excluded from legal aid!
Working with the Legal Action Group and others, the Law Society has produced a list of no fewer than 17 fully costed proposals, which could save £384m in a single year. Why are they being ignored, we ask ourselves?
What is particularly galling is that, by their own admission, the Ministry of Justice is proposing cuts, which may add up to £350m on paper but which do not take into account the impacts on other departments when they are implemented.
To us, it looks like a case of “cut first and ask questions afterwards”.
Our “Sound off for Justice” campaign is designed to help stop the “Big Society” from making its first big mistake – soundoffforjustice.org/the-campaign"
womensgrid.freecharity.org.uk/?p=7395