651 / 736
fees earned on cases in the Supreme Court and
House of Lords (Legal Aid and Advice report for
1968-69, HC Paper no 283 of 1970, p 3, para 11).
In present circumstances, would it not be appro
priate for the legal profession to receive full scale
fees for their work in these cases?
Lord Chancellor:
I believe last year the pro
fession contributed £466,000. The reduction from
the year before is no doubt due to the transfer
of undefended divorces to the county court, where,
of course, costs and fees are paid in full.
The
other side of the picture is that, excluding dis
bursements, practically £10|m. was paid out of the
legal aid fund to solicitors and counsel last year.
The Rushcliffe Committee recommended a re
duction of 15 per cent, (now reduced to 10 per
cent.) because
they
thought it appropriate to
maintain the long charitable tradition of the pro
fession towards those who could not afford to liti
gate on their own. In addition to this consideration
it must be remembered that there are no bad
debts from the legal
aid fund and bills are
promptly paid. Taking the rough with the smooth,
I do not think that a serious case can be made
out that the legal aid scheme has not benefited
the legal profession in either of its two main
branches. I see no reluctance on the part of young
barristers or solicitors to participate in it.
Editor: (d)
Do you consider that it would be
in the public interest for greater publicity to be
given to the Legal Aid and Advice Schemes?
Lord Chancellor:
In their report on the better
provision of legal advice and assistance, the Legal
Aid Advisory Committee strongly urged
that
these facilities should be more widely dissemin
ated. T agree with their view. They also recom
mended that there should be research into the
reasons why people were not now getting the
assistance
they needed and as you know, the
Nuffield Foundation have now made a most gen
erous grant for this purpose. I hope that the re
search they have sponsored will find a way of
bringing these schemes home to people and of
getting them
to make more use of them. The
general question of public awareness of the avail
ability of social benefit is under active consider
ation by the present Government, and my depart
ment is participating in this exercise.
Editor: (e)
You sent a welcoming message to
the North Kensington Neighbourhood Law Centre
on its starting in July. Would you encourage the
opening of more such centres?
Lord Chancellor:
Yes.
Law and social services
Editor:
3 (a) Would you favour newly qualified
lawyers spending a period of up to, say, three
years doing legal work with a social service con
tent, such as assisting at legal advice centres, per
haps carrying out some duties at prisons, borstals
and detention centres, helping with court adminis
tration, and research projects of the Law Com
mission?
Lord Chancellor: I
spent some time myself
doing exactly this but it would be impracticable
and undesirable to make it a compulsory require
ment. Some young lawyers have always interested
themselves in legal advice schemes and will no
doubt continue to do so; and the Law Commis
sion has from its foundation made a practice of
recruiting from time to time, recent law graduates
for a year or two before they enter on their main
careers. Both these activities are beneficial and
to be encouraged. The other suggestions are rather
more speculative. Many people would certainly
agree
that
legal education should
include
the
element of introduction
to the
'social service'
aspects of law, and no doubt it will increasingly
do so in the future.
Editor:
(b~)
Would it be a good idea for an
additional Id. to be added to the weekly national
insurance contribution in order to entitle con
tributors to legal assistance in pursuing claims
with the Departments concerned, or on appeal
before tribunals, bearing in mind that some of
these claims are of much greater substance to the
claimant, relatively or absolutely, than that of
many disputes argued before the county courts?
Lord Chancellor: I
do not think this is a matter
on which I can comment at present. Entitlement
to benefit through national insurance irrespective
of means or merits may be appropriate to some
thing like the Health Service. But entitlement to
legal assistance requires a somewhat different
set of considerations and the need for it in pur
suing claims before particular tribunals will in
191