This is a low: commission to investigate legal aid cuts

The Legal Action Group has established a commission to examine the consequences of cuts to the legal aid budget and suggest solutions to ensure access to justice for all members of the public.

The disability rights campaigner and peer Lord Low will chair the investigation, which has been named the Low Commission on the Future of Advice and Legal Support. As reported by the Law Society Gazette, the commission will spend the next year examining evidence to discern the effects of cuts to the legal aid budget, the biggest of which are due in April 2013. Investigating the legal aid landscape after April 2013 will be one of the commission’s central tasks.

The commission's priority is to influence future political manifestos by formulating a plan that can ensure access to legal representation for all members of the British public. It aims to release preliminary recommendations in September 2013, with a final report to follow in December 2013.

Upon the establishment of the commission, Lord Low said: "Access to justice, especially for the poor and vulnerable, is the mark of a civilised society. But the outlook for advice and legal support services is bleak, especially once the cuts take full effect after April 2013. The challenge is to develop a strategy which, as far as possible, ensures justice for all, but is affordable in the current climate. The commission welcomes written evidence at any time, but is encouraging it to be submitted in two tranches to fit with its own timetable of meetings. It would like to receive initial background information about the role of advice and evidence on the likely impact of the cuts by the end of January, and further evidence on the actual impact of the cuts and on options for the future by the end of May."