Manifesto for justice

Transcription

1 Foreword Manifesto for justice Improving the justice system in England and Wales for society, for the economy and for our global standing

2 Foreword To make society fairer, strengthen our global standing and boost our economy, the next Government should: Ensure every individual has effective access to justice; Protect and enhance the role of English and Welsh law; and Enable legal services to make their major contribution to UK plc. This document briefly sets out the steps the next Government should take to do this. It supports our full manifesto which you can find at /2015electionmanifesto Andrew Caplen President, The Law Society Join the #LawSocManifesto

3 Making society a fairer place Every individual must have effective access to justice. To protect victims and safeguard access to justice for all, the next Government should: Improve victims access to justice by evaluating and if necessary reversing recent changes to the legal system. The UK has a world-renowned legal system that has been through substantial changes in recent times. What is needed is a period of stability and a fundamental review of the impact and combined effects of the changes to civil justice, the cuts to legal aid and other changes to the system introduced in recent years. The next Government should: Stop any further changes to the legal aid system Commission a thorough review of the cuts and changes to legal aid early in the next parliament. Consider the following changes: Immediate repeal of the civil residence test Restoration of welfare benefits advice funding Rebalance the civil justice system, to enable the victims of negligence and other civil wrongs to properly enforce their legal rights. This should ensure that both sides people bringing claims and those they are bringing claims against have equal confidence in the system, e.g. Freeze the limit for small claims in personal injury cases at 1,000 until the impact of recent changes has been assessed, and consider reducing the general limit back to 5,000 Assess the impact of the introduction of employment tribunal fees which can amount to over 1,000 for a single claim on employees access to justice Undertake a fundamental review of the criminal justice system to ensure it delivers what society needs.

4 Strengthening the UK s global standing The law of England and Wales makes a major contribution to our international reputation and, as a result, to the economy. To protect and build on this success, the next Government should: Support the legal profession in its work to shape and influence best practice in the rule of law around the world. The legal system in England and Wales is respected throughout the world because of its integrity and fairness. This provides a unique opportunity for the legal profession to contribute significantly to the UK economy and to the rule of law and human rights internationally. The next Government should: Robustly defend the Human Rights Act and the values it enshrines Work constructively with the European Court of Human Rights to ensure it operates effectively and fairly Campaign to stop the persecution of lawyers and human rights defenders Build the capacity of agencies (like Unicef and Amnesty) who are saving lives by monitoring human rights, and maintain the annual 500 million of funding available to support this vital work Ensure access to justice underpins all EU policies and that citizens can enforce their legal rights, e.g. Helping consumer bodies across Europe support victims of price fixing and anticompetitive behaviour by encouraging the EU Commission to establish a new EU-wide law making it easier to tackle this illegal activity.

5 Boosting the UK economy The UK s legal services sector employs almost 340,000 people, contributes 20bn to the economy and exports over 4bn of services every year. To ensure UK law continues to make a major contribution to the economy, the next Government should: Support UK law firms international growth ambitions, ensure regulation is proportionate and invest in digital infrastructure. The UK legal sector is a huge asset for UK plc, and has significant potential for growth and expansion at home and abroad. The next Government should: Work with the legal sector to enable us to deliver on this potential and help us continue to contribute to the growth of the UK and global economy Ensure the future regulatory regime for the profession: Maintains the independence of the legal profession from Government Ensures that regulators are accountable for their actions through the Code for Regulators Encourages a strong, diverse legal profession with high standards Ensure that business migration policy is sufficiently flexible to support the legal sector s global competitiveness, enabling law firms to attract and retain talent from across the world at the time and for the duration that it is needed Implement the Law Commission s recommendations on intellectual property law so that the UK maintains its current reputation as a centre for intellectual property expertise Further invest in digital infrastructure for the courts Develop a new Tax Law Charter setting out the guiding principles for all future tax legislation to support certainty and the rule of law.

6 For more information contact the Law Society at 113 Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1PL Dx 56 Lon/Chancery Ln t: f: #LawSocManifesto 2014 The Law Society. All rights reserved. September Design by DTW