Motoring Law - News
Acquitted? Cannot recover your Costs? Law Society takes action against Government
It is not often that the Law Society challenges the Government by way of a Judicial Review Application but, in January 2010 it did so by trying to overturn new Government Regulations restricting the Costs that can be recovered by acquitted Defendants.
These Regulations came into force on October 31st 2009 and cap, at Legal Aid rates, the Costs that can be recovered by a Defendant who has personally funded his Defence. This inevitably means that someone in those circumstances could be handsomely out of pocket even though his decision to challenge the Charges brought against him was vindicated.
Alternatively, the Government will expect the Defence Lawyers to write off the unrecovered Costs thereby running the risk that a Legal Aid service is provided to privately paying Clients. Are Law Firms supposed to absorb more losses by writing off such Costs or will they simply dilute the quality of the service provided? Either way these Regulations have massive implications for everyone applying, as they do, even to people charged with Motoring Offences.
Michael Gray – Head of Crime at Oliver & Co commented:
“While it is pleasing to see the Law Society take this action it is equally disappointing to see yet another attack on “access to justice.” The Legal Aid Rates paid to Lawyers providing expert advice in relation to areas such as Family Law & Crime have been eroded year on year to the extent that more and more Firms are giving up this work. Reducing the numbers of specialist Solicitors committed to publicly funded work cannot be in the interests of the public.
At Oliver & Co we are committed to providing a comprehensive national service to Clients covering the full range of Criminal Law including Motoring Prosecutions. Our success rates mean that we recover Costs for our Clients in many Cases. We will do all we can in those situations to maximise that recovery for the benefit of our Clients.”
If you would like more information, details of our competitive rates or you would like to discuss your case then please contact the motoring department direct on:
01244 354689
(8am to 8pm)
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