Monitoring quality to raise standards of legal practice within the Legal Aid system in the UK

Impact: Impact - for External PortalPolicy and legislation, Professional practice, training and standards

Narrative

The impact of a research programme into quality assessment measures for publicly funded legal services has been the establishment of a peer review programme for all civil and criminal lawyers operating in Scotland, England and Wales. This programme has ensured that the quality of service provided by legal aid lawyers in Scotland is consistently high, with only 10% of providers failing routine reviews. Moreover, the errors that do emerge are primarily administrative failings rather than poor legal advice. The Scottish model has been the basis for pilot projects in the Netherlands, Finland and Moldova, and has been drawn on for a peer review programme for all Dutch notaries.
Impact statusOpen
Category of impactPolicy and legislation, Professional practice, training and standards

Keywords

  • REF2014 impact case study