4 minute read
Council member's Report
Council Member’s Report
At the meeting on 17 January 2023, Council considered, amongst other things, the progress of the Society in relation to its profile in various areas both in public campaigning and in communication to members and agreed that both had been enhanced. The Annual Member Survey conducted in October 2022 produced 1,500 full responses and would be the subject of analysis to identify areas of value for the profession. The Society also achieved significant results in participation in legal actions on matters relating to costs assessment in legal aid cases and the extent of pre-retainer duties owed. The Society was also preparing for legal action against the MoJ in relation to the criminal law review. Council also discussed the SQE and the commissioning of research into the differential attainment of ethnic minority candidates. The Society needs input from members concerning any issues in relation to the SQE.
At the meeting on 29 March 2023, Council was informed that judicial review proceedings against the MOJ had been instituted regarding its decision not to increase criminal defence solicitors’ legal aid rates by the recommended minimum of 15%, asserting that this decision was both unlawful and irrational. The government’s response to the society’s pre-action letter failed to address the Society’s concerns about the collapse of the criminal legal aid sector as a result of years of chronic underfunding. Council also discussed the Illegal Migration Bill for which there had been no public consultation to ensure that the bill was workable, provided due process for those claiming asylum or was compliant with international law. The government had already conceded that the bill was not compliant with the European Convention on Human Rights. Council heard that there was progress on the roundtables set up to consider professional ethics with a range of firms, in-house solicitors and experts. The President had had meetings with senior civil servants, parliamentarians and others raising the profession’s concerns on court modernisation, criminal legal aid, civil legal aid and other matters. Council also approved the Society’s new high-level volunteering strategy called “Get Involved” and stressed the importance of member contributions from across the profession reflecting its diversity and the underpinning of the strategy that the Law Society is relevant, open, rewarding and makes a difference.
At the meeting on 10 May 2023 Council was informed that before the resignation of Raab, the MOJ had filed and served an Acknowledgement of Service and summary grounds of resistance to the judicial review proceedings relating to the refusal to increase criminal defence solicitors’ legal aid rates. The grounds of resistance were accompanied by a significant amount of supporting information not previously seen by the Law Society. A reply has been filed in response to that evidence and we await a decision on permission to proceed. Council
was informed that the Society had published milestone climate change guidance for solicitors which sets out how organisations could manage their business in a way consistent with transition to Net Zero. The guidance received positive coverage in the trade and national press, which shows the degree to which wider society are looking at us. This Guidance involved a working group and staff at the Law Society and incredibly hard work. The guidance produced is a world leader in this field. Council was also informed about a new venture called the “21st Century Justice Project”. This is a three-year policy development programme which aims to demonstrate the Law Society’s role in tackling some of the biggest problems in the justice system and increasing access to justice. Part of its work will be to improve access to justice for small businesses and individuals on modest incomes who were not eligible for legal aid. The first year of the Project would focus on the civil justice system as the part of the justice system these groups were most likely to have contact with. The challenge to the Law Society is to come up with something credible without appearing self-interested and to deal with the tensions between the interests of members and the interests of access to justice. Council welcomed the Project although expressed concerns over the erosion of legal aid fees, the absence of any recognition that in the future there will be a separate justice system in Wales and the need for the profession itself to contribute to solutions for example providing financial support to those providing frontline services or pro bono services.
Please feel free to discuss any of these issues and any other issues with Sushila Abraham or myself. ■
