THE GOVERNMENT’S controversial changes to how criminal solicitors are paid for legal aid defence work were declared unlawful by the High Court today.

The Law Society took the Lord Chancellor David Gauke to court over the decision to reduce fees payable under the Litigators’ Graduated Fees Scheme (LGFS), which pays legal aid solicitors a fixed sum depending on the complexity of the case.

New regulations introduced last year have reduced the number of pages of prosecution evidence counting towards solicitors’ fees from 10,000 to 6,000, which the Law Society said  had left defence lawyers earning “up to 37 per cent less for some large cases” for the same amount of work.

The High Court found that the consultation on the decision, which 97 per cent of respondents opposed, was unfair because an estimate that spending would increase by £33 million, which was “pivotal to the justification for the decision,” had not been disclosed.

Lord Justice Leggatt said it was “unclear whether this omission occurred through oversight or was the result of a deliberate decision,” but he found that it was “impossible to see how the consultees could make an intelligent assessment” of the proposed changes without knowing the figure.

He also found that the decision was “irrational,” as the analysis by the Legal Aid Agency which produced the £33m figure was “statistically flawed.”

In addition, the Law Society argued that there was a real risk of the changes preventing defendants from receiving effective legal representation, a claim supported by reference to Unison’s landmark Supreme Court victory on tribunal fees, but the High Court found there was “no evidence before the court” to prove it.

Law Society president Christina Blacklaws said: “This is a significant ruling. Criminal solicitors provide a vital public service. We have consistently warned that this fragile criminal legal aid market cannot stand further cuts.”

She called on the government to “restart discussions to try to formulate a revised approach to the LGFS that will remunerate lawyers fairly for the work they have to do.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said the department would “carefully consider the content of the judgement and determine the next steps.”