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Pro bono work and social justice
Pro bono work and social justice

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2.4 The impact on trials

In 2014, the Court of Appeal overturned the decision to halt a fraud trial because of the lack of publicly funded representation (R v Crawley [2014] EWCA Crim 1028). The case highlights the impact of the reduction of fees in criminal cases.

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Figure 3 Marching barristers
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A photograph of barristers marching with placards that read 'NO LEGAL AID CUTS' and 'SAVE BRITISH JUSTICE'.

Figure 3 Marching barristers

Activity 4 Representation for all

Timing: You should allow yourself 20 minutes to do this activity.
  • a.Read the article ‘Court of Appeal overturns move to halt fraud trial’ [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] (Casciani, 2014)
  • b.Using the same link, watch the clip of Sir Brian Leveson delivering his judgment of the case which accompanies the article.
  • c.This is an opportunity to practise your persuasive writing skills. Imagine you work for a community group; for example, 38 Degrees. Draft an email to be sent out to their supporters which asks them to sign an online petition to prevent further cuts to barristers’ fees.

Comment

Here is an example.

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Figure 4 Example petition
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Figure 4 is an example petition. There is a heading ‘Petition Government and Parliament.’ followed by the text: ‘Dear John, Legal aid cuts hurt everyone. If you were facing criminal charges and the prospect of going to prison, what would you want? Would you be happy with just an ok barrister, perhaps someone who has done a few of these types of cases before? Or would you want to make sure you had the best representation, a barrister who was leading in their field, who could fight your corner. Could this make the difference,could this stop you going to prison? Should only rich people be able to choose the best representation? If you think everyone should have access to the best representation, can you sign the petition now? It only takes 30 seconds.’ There is a click through button with the wording ‘Sign the petition’. There is a bar showing how many signatures have been added so far, the text reads ‘77,375 signatures’. The target is shown as 100,000 signatures. The text continues .‘Thanks for being involved, Trisha, Mel, Simon and the rest of the team.’ The final line reads ‘Discussed in Parliament at 100,000 signatures’.

Figure 4 Example petition