Legal Aid

House of Lords written question – answered at on 8 April 2014.

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Photo of Lord Blencathra Lord Blencathra Conservative

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much has been paid in legal aid fees over the last five years to law firms Public Interest Lawyers and Leigh Day to conduct cases alleging abuse by British soldiers.

Photo of Lord Faulks Lord Faulks The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice

The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) cannot separately identify legal aid cases for those Iraqis alleging abuse by British Soldiers without disproportionate costs. Legal aid cases are not systematically recorded against nationality or cause of action.

Leigh Day have not acted under legal aid in these types of cases. Public Interest Lawyers have acted for Iraqi clients under legal aid in cases seeking investigations into deaths and mistreatment.

The net payments to Public Interest Lawyers over the past five years were:

Year Amount
2008/09 £628,527.75
2009/10 £267,433.88
2010/11 £439,268.02
2011/12 £331,238.85
2012/13 £54,387.48

These payments cover all work undertaken by the firm under legal aid. The payments made will be offset by recoupment on successful cases where the opponent has paid the costs.

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