In a letter to the Scrutiny panel that is currently reviewing the proposed reforms, the Bailiff has said that a lowering of the financial eligibility threshold would result in more middle-earning Islanders being forced to represent themselves in court. Such ‘litigants in person’, he goes on to say, are ‘less likely’ to receive a fair chance of getting ‘good justice’.
‘In the last few years, we have seen in court a great increase in the number of litigants in person in civil cases,’ he said. ‘I mean no disrespect to those litigants, who devote a great deal of time to presenting their cases in what is for them foreign territory, but it is not desirable in the interests of justice for several reasons.’
He added that the proposed law’s guidelines which deal, among other things, with the household income thresholds that qualify Islanders to receive legal aid, would prejudice those who ‘could ill afford it’.
‘The outcome [of adopting the guidelines as currently proposed] will be a significant deterioration in the provision of legal aid and consequent prejudice to those who can ill afford it and to the administration of justice in the Island.’
The proposed reforms to the legal aid system would see the eligibility for legal aid representation reduce from households with an income of £45,000, with certain additional household allowances, to a straight £35,000. The proposals could also see a significant reduction in the amount of costs reimbursed to acquitted defendants, which currently amount to most, if not all, of the defendant’s legal costs.
Chairman of Scrutiny’s legal aid review panel Deputy Steve Ahier said that they wanted to ensure that Islanders were aware of how the potential changes to legal aid could affect them.
‘Through our review, we want to ensure that members of the public are aware of the proposed changes to the legal aid system and have an opportunity to comment on the changes,’ he said. ‘We are preparing a short consultation document outlining the key changes to legal aid, which we will be publishing once the draft Access to Justice Law has been lodged for debate.’
A spokesman for Chief Minister John Le Fondré, who will be bringing forward the law proposing legal aid reform, said that the new scheme will be considered by the Council of Ministers later this month.
‘The Draft Access to Justice Law and proposed legal aid scheme will be considered by the Council of Ministers for the first time later this month and the Chief Minister looks forward to receiving the Scrutiny panel’s conclusions in due course.
‘If the Assembly approves the draft law, all comments on the legal aid scheme will need to be considered by the legal aid guidelines advisory committee, which would be established under the Law. The committee would then recommend a scheme to the Chief Minister, who would be responsible for making and publishing the scheme.’
It is anticipated that the Draft Access to Justice Law will be lodged before November.
