![]() ![]() ![]() What are the legal aid cuts affecting England and Wales? It means that the state can falsely accuse you of an offence, and when a court exonerates you, you are nevertheless bankrupted by the cost of defending yourself. This “innocence tax”, as it has been dubbed, has seen acquitted defendants forced to sell their homes and exhaust their life savings. If you are acquitted, the government will then only reimburse your legal fees at legal aid rates, meaning you are forced to pay the difference yourself. Private legal rates can run to tens and even hundreds of thousands of pounds if the allegation against you is particularly complicated or serious. They are forced to either represent themselves in complex criminal proceedings, or to pay privately for legal representation. You will be reimbursed if you are later acquitted, but the sums demanded can be prohibitively high, and I see more and more people deciding to opt out of legal aid altogether as they can’t afford the contributions.īut the biggest hit affects those above the threshold. ![]() Up to those figures, you will be eligible for legal aid but may be required to pay “contributions” over the months or years as your case progresses. ![]() Anyone with an annual household disposable income of £22,325 is excluded from legal aid in the magistrates courts, with £37,500 the cut-off in the crown court. Firstly, many people who are far from wealthy are deprived of funding altogether. ![]()
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