Critically discuss the position of legal aid in England and Wales Essay

Critically discuss the position of legal aid in England and Wales - Essay Example The government proposed changes in the civil legal aid as outlined by Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke would see civil legal aid only routinely available for cases where life or liberty was so much at stake (Ministry of Justice, 2009, p.4). The funding would be removed on dispute like (Divorce, welfare benefits and school exclusion appeals, Employment, Immigration where the person is not detained and Clinical negligence and personal injury).However, legal funding would continue for cases like (Asylum, Mental health, Debt and housing matters where someones home is at immediate risk, Family law cases involving domestic violence, forced marriage or child abduction and for mediation as a means to resolve disputes). Other measures to be put in place are the use of telephone as single gateway to legal advice, purported benefit eligibility to access legal aid being replaced to depend on the disposable capital one has so as to qualify for the legal aid, and also the decrease in fees paid to the solicitors, judges and the barristers that provide the legal aid. The changes proposed in the legal aid are expected to cut the legal aid bill by  £350m a year by 2015. As its It is thought there would be 500,000 fewer civil cases as a result. The plan was taken through consultation from the public starting 15th November 2011 to 14th February 2011, so that the justice ministry could get the view of the public on the intended changes. It would discourage cases that are not worth taking to court being resolved through other methods of dispute resolution like mediation. As Mr. Clarke points out when reading the proposal to the MPs, he says that legal aid has seen unnecessary court cases that would have not reached the court-room door were they not being funded by tax payer’s money, but from the pocket of somebody else. He adds further that the proposal targets civil ‘and family schemes that discourage people to resort to lawyers and courts whenever they have