Judge refuses council permission to take part in legal aid crime contracts challenge

A High Court judge has refused to give the London Borough of Newham permission to take part in judicial review proceedings over the Legal Aid Agency’s recent award of new legal aid crime contracts.

Mr Justice Stuart-Smith yesterday ruled that the local authority did not have sufficient standing. The judge has, however, given the law firms that comprise the Fair Crime Contracts Alliance permission to bring a claim subject to the provision of £40,000 security for costs.

A spokesperson for Newham had said before the hearing that the council was supporting the judicial review into the Duty Solicitor Crime Contract Tender as it wanted to ensure that due process had been followed and that the process was adequate, efficient and fair.

“Any breach of this is not only a failure to comply with statutory requirements, but a blatant disregard for the needs of the most vulnerable in our society,” they said, adding that local law firms had approached the council with their concerns about the tender.

The spokesperson said: “Newham has a high level of need and some of our residents are ill-equipped to pay for legal services themselves. We want to ensure that local firms in our borough and neighbouring boroughs, some of whom are specialists in their fields, are available to provide first class legal services to our residents.

“In addition, that the outcome of the tender process is the best possible one that will not further reduce the capacity of residents in the borough to access appropriate legal services or impact on long established local businesses.”

The Legal Aid Agency has delayed introduction of the contracts by three months to April 2016 because of the legal challenges it faces.