4 June 2014
Court documents seen by Channel 4 News suggest the Hull court system is in crisis over cuts to legal aid.
The Criminal Justice System is on the brink of collapse and Judge Jeremy Richardson QC at the Hull Combined Court has been forced to take action, as the issue of long delays in trials over a lack of representation for defendants worsens.
The chaos is a result of the “withdrawal of good will by criminal defence lawyers” as they protest against the legal aid cuts.
Director, Senior Solicitor and Head of Criminal Defence here at Williamsons Solicitors Bill Waddington, who is the chair of the Criminal Law Solicitors Association, has said he is hoping this will “show the importance of the good quality defence representatives being available to help maintain this wonderful Criminal Justice System we have in this country.”
Bill has also expressed his concerns to The Guardian regarding the legal aid dispute and the major issue over the unrepresented defendents due to this. He said “We are now reaching a crucial stage in the crown court caseload where it’s causing [problems] for the prosecution, defendants and clearly the court as well.
These [actions] are designed to demonstrate that if we lose a vast number of [legal aid-funded law firms], the quality of representation will fall through the floor. We hope the MoJ will see the error of its ways.”
Watch the Channel 4 News video in full here and read The Guardian news article here.
