Civil Justice and Legal Aid

Part of Prayers – in the House of Commons at 9:34 am on 21 November 1997.

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Photo of Geoff Hoon Geoff Hoon Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department 9:34, 21 November 1997

I assume that the hon. Gentleman does not agree with my analysis, which disappoints me. I should have thought that a reasonable prospect of success was at least 50 per cent., but, as he will know, the Lord Chancellor has indicated that we should have a still stricter test. I am perfectly willing to concede that, had the existing test been operated successfully and had legal aid supported only cases with a reasonable prospect of success, the proposed changes would not have been necessary. We could then have relied more on the judgment of lawyers than we are able to, and that is why we are proposing a stricter merit test for the granting of legal aid.