What the king’s speech means for law and justice

“We hope the government will work proactively to protect and secure access to justice and make our justice system a source of pride again,” said Law Society president Nick Emmerson.

Crime and justice

The prisons crisis has illustrated the dire state of our criminal justice system and civil justice is also crying out for investment after decades of underfunding.

Immediate steps that should be taken are a real terms increase in criminal legal aid rates of 15% while wider reform takes place and, for civil legal aid, an immediate £11.3m investment in early advice to sustain the system while the ongoing review takes place.

We broadly welcome measures intended to improve the criminal justice response to violence against women and girls, deal with knife crime and respond to the criminal exploitation of children.

However, writing new laws is not a panacea in the absence of adequate funding of all facets of the criminal justice system and timely, expert advice and support.

Immigration

Scrapping the Rwanda policy alongside introducing a bill seeking to modernise the immigration and asylum system is a pragmatic and sensible approach to immigration.

This bill should focus on tackling the backlog of asylum applications, including the growing asylum appeals backlog, and ensuring a fair, functioning and properly resourced asylum system including access to immigration legal aid.

Mental health

We are pleased the new government recognises the need to modernise the Mental Health Act, as the current legislation is outdated.

Under the current system, there is a risk that compulsory detention and treatment is used too often and that patients do not have enough involvement or advocacy support in decisions about their care.

New legislation should provide patients with enough agency and choice in their care and treatment, so they are able to challenge their detention. This would give patients the dignity and respect they deserve.

Renters’ rights

We welcome the new government’s commitment to banning ‘no-fault’ evictions.

The abolition of section 21 is a critical step in strengthening renters’ rights and the new government must act urgently to reform the rental market.

In the Renters’ Rights Bill, we hope the government will ensure an appropriate balance between tenants’ rights and landlords’ routes to repossession by increasing access to housing legal aid and resourcing the courts so there is capacity to handle the caseload.

Employment

A new Employment Rights Bill should contain many positive advances for people’s rights at work and make employment law fit better with the multiple ways businesses wish to work.

It is good there is a focus on improving dispute resolution and enforcement, though there are still a lot of details to work out to make sure the intentions of the bill are positive for the labour market.