The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers has criticised the lack of parliamentary time allowed to discuss no-win, no-fee proposals in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill, during report stage.
According to Postonline.co.uk, Deborah Evans, chief executive of APIL said: “Is 20 minutes of discussion all injured people are worth? These proposals risk cutting off genuine claimants from their right to full and fair redress. It is an utter disgrace that only around two per cent of parliamentary time during this report stage has been devoted to examining the very serious impact these proposals will have on people whose lives have been shattered at the hands of others.”
She added that the proposals, which were debated in the House of Commons yesterday (2 November) will change ‘no win no fee’ in such a way that the damages of many innocent injury victims will be unfairly reduced. She added that many serious and complex cases will not be brought at all.
Evans continued: “We know of heart-breaking cases, such as people who have been catastrophically injured by medical blunders or who have contracted asbestos-related disease, who would never be able to obtain the damages they desperately need under these proposals.
"There are widespread, thoroughly justified and very serious concerns about this Bill and I am extremely worried that proposals are being railroaded through Parliament without proper consideration about the consequences for vulnerable people.”
She added: “The government must stop this runaway juggernaut now, and start to take these concerns seriously."