Law Soc manifesto calls for govt action

The Law Society has called on the next government to "stop talking and start acting" on implementing long-overdue changes to the British justice system.

In its recently released election manifesto, the Law Society argues for reform of the current legal system to make it simpler, cheaper and easier to use. It sets out a number of proposals to this end.

Key manifesto issues include: ensuring that the Woolf Report recommendations on streamlining civil justice are implemented; abolishing the penalties severely disabled people have to pay in legal aid contributions; establishing a test case fund; widening the legal aid criteria to include middle income families; ensuring that the European Convention on Human Rights is incorporated into UK law; and introducing a scheme to register unqualified immigration advisers.

"These issues have not been at the top of a government's agenda for a long time," said Chris Philipsborn, head of the Law Society's parliamentary unit.

"We feel we should be doing more as a campaigning organisation to get the system working again.

"The time for talking is long past.''