By Monidipa Fouzder2021-05-13T09:52:00+01:00
The Ministry of Justice has been urged not to bring court-assessed civil legal aid bills in-house amid impartiality and transparency concerns as well as the impact on an already-dwindling supplier base.
Robert Buckland’s department has been consulting on transferring the assessment of most civil and family legal aid costs bills from the courts to the Legal Aid Agency.
The Law Society said its members had serious concerns about the agency’s assessment process. ‘First and foremost is the concern about lack of impartiality when the assessor is also the paying party, unlike the courts which have no financial interest in the outcome of the assessment. This concern is heightened by a perceived culture of refusal on the part of the LAA,’ it said.