Rotherham solicitors refuse work in anti-cuts protest

Criminal lawyers across South Yorkshire, excluding Doncaster, are no longer applying for legal aid or assisting people at police stations, saying they cannot sustain their businesses due to cuts which came into force last Wednesday. 

Solicitors’ fees in England and Wales are being reduced by 8.75 per cent from July 1 after they were cut by the same percentage in 2014.

The government is implementing cuts to reduce the £1.7bn bill for legal aid, which helps people who cannot afford the costs of legal advice.

Hester Russell, partner at Rotherham law firm Harthills and a committee member of the Criminal Law Solicitors’ Association, said: “Legal aid work is, for many of us, a vocation — not just a job.

“Unfortunately, legal aid lawyers like me are now a dying breed.  

“We are not greedy, neither are we fatcats. The truth of the matter is that until March 2014 criminal legal aid rates had been largely frozen for two decades.

“But in March last year, the Government slashed our rates by 8.75 per cent, and then again on the July 1 by a further 8.75 per cent.   

“We are not asking for more cash, but to provide a service we cannot sustain these cuts. 

“We urge the Government to look again at the damage being done to the British Justice System, and the impact that this is having upon the people who most need our help.” 

Ms Russell added that criminal defence lawyers do not “just help criminals” but are there to help people and make sure courts run smoothly.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said the Legal Aid Agency had plans in place to ensure the criminal justice system would operate effectively.

The cuts would be “challenging” but were designed to ensure a system of criminal legal aid that delivered value for money to taxpayers, he said.