The lawyer for Stephen Lawrence’s family today warned that legal aid cuts planned by the Government will be a “disaster” for black Londoners.
Imran Khan said the £220 million of cuts would send equality “backwards” by leaving ethnic minority defendants struggling to find adequate representation. Justice Secretary Chris Grayling wants to reduce fees for lawyers, under reforms that will also see defendants on legal aid lose the ability to choose their solicitor.
Mr Khan said the changes would make it difficult to take on complex and costly cases, such as the Lawrence murder, which could produce changes that benefit all Londoners. He claimed the new system would lead to large law firms offering “bulk buying” prices that would force many ethnic minority solicitors out of business.
The Holborn-based lawyer, who also represented the parents of Victoria Climbié and the family of Zahid Mubarek, who was killed by a racist cellmate, said: “The future is bleak. Legal aid is not simply about defending so-called criminals, it is also about protecting people’s rights and improving society for everyone… But now it is getting to the stage where lawyers are going to be turning away cases that might be the next Lawrence, the next Zahid Mubarek or the next Climbié.”
Mr Khan has represented Stephen Lawrence’s family since the teenager was stabbed to death in Eltham in 1993. His work helped prompt Sir William Macpherson’s inquiry into racism in the Met, and the reforms which followed. The murders of Mr Mubarek, 19, at Feltham Young Offender Institution in 2000, and Victoria Climbié, eight, in the same year, also led to public inquiries and reforms to improve jail conditions and child protection.
The legal aid reforms are opposed by the Society of Black Lawyers, the Society of Asian Lawyers, the Law Society, the Bar Council and the Criminal Bar Association. But a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Justice said: “Quality assured lawyers will still be available, just as they are now.”
