Foreigners must be banned from fighting British court cases using legal aid to stop the justice system being brought into disrepute, the Justice Secretary has said. Chris Grayling warns that court cases brought by foreign citizens using British taxpayers’ money risk undermining faith in the justice system.
He said a small group law of firms and pressure groups now “make a healthy living by finding more and more varied ways to challenge government in court – and getting you to pay the bill.”
As an example, he cited Public Interest Lawyers, who acted for Iraqis claiming that British troops in Iraq had unlawfully killed up to 20 civilians.
After a year-long public inquiry costing the taxpayer more than £20 million, the firm last month accepted that there was no evidence to substantiate the claims.
Such cases now jeopardise public faith in the system, Mr Grayling suggests.
Public Interest Lawyers is headed by Phil Shiner, a persistent critic of Coalition policies. The firm has actively sought cases to bring against the Government over the conduct of the Armed Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and has also acted for benefits claimants challenging welfare reforms.
Ministers also want to restrict legal aid to people who have been resident in the UK for at least a year, with Mr Grayling arguing: “Why should you pay the legal bill of people who have never even been to Britain?”
The minister also defends plans to make it harder to seek judicial reviews of public bodies’ decisions. The Criminal Justice and Courts Bill, now before Parliament, aims to curb public funding for judicial reviews, requiring judges to reject cases that appear unlikely to succeed.
That change has been criticised as impractical by legal experts, but Mr Grayling says the move is necessary to save money and prevent pressure groups, lobbyists and businesses using the system inappropriately.
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