Milly Dowler’s family urges Cameron to rethink legal reforms

Letter from family of murdered teenager to PM says new law might have prevented them suing News International The family of Milly Dowler, the murdered teenager whose mobile phone was hacked by the News of the World, has written to the prime minister urging him to abandon legal reforms that will prevent victims suing for compensation. The direct appeal to David Cameron comes two months after they met in Downing Street at the height of the phone-hacking scandal and includes the plea: “We are sure you do not want to go down in history as the prime minister who took rights away from ordinary people.” The letter, released to the Guardian , highlights mounting political anxiety over the effect of the government’s legal aid, sentencing and punishment of offenders bill (Laspo) which is going through its committee stage in the Commons. Earlier this week, the Liberal Democrat conference in Birmingham passed a motion condemning the coalition government’s plans to deprive those challenging welfare benefit decisions of access to legal aid. As well as containing proposals for slicing £350m a year out of the legal aid budget and withdrawing support for even medical negligence cases, the Ministry of Justice’s bill will ban “no win, no fee” agreements – also known as conditional fee agreements (CFAs) – in their present form. Claimants’ ability to recover expensive insurance premiums and their own lawyers’ success fees from losing defendants will be abolished. Instead the costs will have to be paid out of any final award for damages. Opponents of the change, such as the Sound Off for Justice campaign , warn that it will render the cost of seeking redress through the courts no longer financially viable and restrict access to justice. The Dowler family’s intervention in the debate is highly embarrassing for No 10 and the MoJ. In July, the Guardian revealed that the News of the World hacked into the mobile phone of Milly Dowler, who disappeared at the age of 13 on her way home in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, on 21 March 2002. Messages were deleted, giving her parents false hopes that she might still be alive. This week it was revealed that News International, publishers of News of the World, had offered £3m in compensation and payments to charities. The Dowlers’ letter to Cameron declares: “We could not have [reached a settlement] without a ‘no win, no fee’ agreement … We understand that the new law will affect thousands of people who want to sue News International and other newspapers. “We had understood that you were on the side of the people not the press. Please do not change the law so that the ability to sue papers is lost … “We are sure that you do not want to go down in history as the prime minister who took rights away from ordinary people so that large companies could print whatever they like and break the law without [anyone] being able to challenge them.” A copy of the letter has also been sent to the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg. A co-ordinated statement from Sound Off for Justice, which is supported by the solicitors’ body, The Law Society , says the government’s legal reforms will “cut access to justice for millions of middle income families and individuals in the UK”. “The only winners from the government’s changes in legislation will be insurance companies that will pay less or not at all for genuine accidents, health operators that avoid paying for their clinical negligence and big business,” it says. “The losers will be normal families and people like the Dowlers and other victims of ‘wrongdoing’ by organisations or individuals that are wealthier. The changes will create a legal arms war with the richest winning.” Des Hudson, chief executive of the Law Society, said: “[The Dowlers] have succeeded in making it clear to the prime minister and his deputy that it is ordinary families with terrible life challenges that will be impacted the most. “They are the losers. As a society we need to protect them and their access to justice. The government must stop and listen today.” Mark Lewis, the solicitor who represented the Dowler family, said: “This is all about access to justice. Individuals, be they poor or rich, do not have the financial might to stand up to the super rich, and powerful corporations. Without CFAs ordinary people cannot afford to challenge what is said about them and what is done to them. It is not just that money talks but that it can stop you and me from answering back. “Democracy requires that we all have a voice. The proposed changes will remove that from most of us.” Lewis, who has represented clients on a no fee basis, offered to represent the Dowler family even if there was no conditional fee agreement. Asked about any payment as part of the settlement, he declined to comment. Labour’s justice spokesman, Andy Slaughter, tabled an amendment to the Laspo bill, citing the Dowlers’ case, in an attempt to reverse reforms of “no win, no fee” agreements. The amendment was not accepted. Slaughter pointed out that both Robert Murat, who was “grossly defamed” after the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, and Christopher Jefferies, who was “monstered” by the press after being arrested by police in the Joanna Yeates murder investigation, had relied on CFAs to seek legal redress. Ken Clarke, the justice secretary, has said that he is determined to combat what he terms the “compensation culture” and says the changes will force potential litigants to consider costs when launching claims. The changes to CFAs were originally recommended in a review conducted by Lord Justice Jackson, which, however, stressed the importance of preserving legal aid. Earlier this month, he said: “The cutbacks in legal aid are contrary to the recommendations in my report … The legal aid system plays a crucial role in promoting access to justice at proportionate costs in key areas.” The plans to cut £350m from the legal aid budget – removing support in areas such as divorce, child custody, employment, immigration, housing, debt, benefit and education – have also been widely opposed by human rights and welfare charities. The charity Action against Medical Accidents this week launched a judicial review of the government’s decision to take clinical negligence out of the scope of legal aid. The organisation’s chief executive, Peter Walsh, said: “Scrapping legal aid for clinical negligence is completely irrational whatever way you look at it, as well as grossly unfair. Ken Clarke’s department might save a little money, but the cost will simply be heaped on the NHS.” The Labour party has also criticised Jonathan Djanogly, the justice minister steering the reforms through the Commons, because of his personal investments in insurance companies which, it is alleged, will benefit from the reforms . Labour has written to the cabinet secretary, Sir Gus O’Donnell, demanding an investigation into any potential conflict of interest. The minister has said that his investments are declared as a matter of public record and have been put into a blind trust. A Downing Street spokesman said: “The government is absolutely committed to ensuring that people can access the justice system regardless of their financial situation, which is why we are committed to maintaining ‘no win, no fee’ arrangements. “There are many deserving cases brought before the courts. But we have to stop the abuse of the system by others pursing excessive, costly and unnecessary cases. Under the current arrangements, innocent defendants can face enormous costs, which can discourage them from fighting cases. This simply isn’t fair. “So in order to ensure that the no win, no fee cases continue to provide fair access to justice for all, we have to make changes. “By balancing the costs more fairly between the claimant and defendant, these changes will ensure that claimants will still be able to bring deserving claims, and receive damages where they are due, and most importantly they will make the no win, no fee system sustainable for the future.” Labour’s Sadiq Khan, the shadow justice secretary, said: “People like the Dowler family who have been terribly wronged will have far less chance of getting justice if the government’s proposals go ahead. “Without legal aid or a lawyer able to act on a no win, no fee basis they will go unheard or be forced to bring their case without representation. These misguided proposals could prevent future criminal acts being brought to justice. This government must rethink them now. “The government should heed the warnings from the Dowlers to ensure that all victims have access to proper representation in court and no one is denied access to justice.” Milly Dowler Legal aid Phone hacking News International News of the World UK criminal justice David Cameron Nick Clegg Crime Owen Bowcott guardian.co.uk

Posted by on September 22, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.