Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012
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The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) made far-reaching changes in three areas. Part 1 replaced the Access to Justice Act 1999 legal aid scheme: it abolished the Legal Services Commission in favour of the Legal Aid Agency and recast civil legal aid so that services are available only for the categories listed in Schedule 1, with an exceptional-case funding safety net (s.10) where failure to fund would breach Convention or retained EU rights. Part 2 reformed litigation funding and costs — ending the recovery from the losing party of conditional-fee success fees (s.44) and after-the-event insurance premiums (s.46), and introducing damages-based agreements (s.45). Part 3 reformed sentencing and offender management, shortened the rehabilitation periods under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (s.139), and created the offence of squatting in a residential building (s.144).
ประเด็นสำคัญ
- Removed most civil legal aid (Schedule 1 scope) — retained for family (domestic abuse), asylum, housing (homelessness/possession), debt where the home is at risk, and clinical negligence causing severe disability
- Created the Legal Aid Agency, abolishing the Legal Services Commission
- Exceptional Case Funding (s.10) for cases where refusing legal aid would breach ECHR or retained EU rights
- Reformed CFAs — success fees (s.44) and ATE insurance premiums (s.46) no longer recoverable from the losing party
- Introduced damages-based agreements / contingency fees for civil litigation (s.45)
- Shortened rehabilitation periods (s.139) and created the offence of squatting in a residential building (s.144)