Law Society statement on scrapping of criminal courts charge
Law Society president Jonathan Smithers said:
"The Law Society has consistently raised grave concerns publicly and directly with government about the threat posed to fair trials by the criminal courts charge. This fee created a perverse incentive on those accused of wrong doing to plead guilty when they were not because they could not afford to pay these often high and disproportionate fines.
“We welcome the decision by the government to scrap the unjust criminal courts charge, which we have lobbied against since its introduction earlier this year. We are pleased that our concerns have been listened too.
“We further welcome the announcement of the review of court-ordered fines and will consult with solicitors to inform our contribution.”
