Ruling overturned in legal aid row case
A decision to throw out a multi-million pound fraud trial, after defendants said they could not get representation because of legal aid cuts, has been overturned by the Court of Appeal.
Legal aid: MoJ 'made strenuous efforts to co-operate'
The government has welcomed the ruling that a serious fraud trial should be resumed despite a row with barristers that led to it being halted.
In a statement, the Ministry of Justice said: "Legal aid remains available for all very high cost cases and even after the savings a QC working on a VHCC like this could expect to receive around £100,000.
"We have one of the most expensive legal aid systems in the world and we have to address this.
"We are entirely supportive of the self-employed Bar and have made strenuous efforts to secure their continuing co-operation, including changing our original proposals and introducing support measures where possible.
"It remains open to barristers to take up these cases."
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