Legal Aid: Government consult on £220m saving plan
By Eric McGraw
Chris Grayling, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, wants to shave £220 million per year from the £2 billion legal aid bill by 2018/19

Under the proposed reforms, those with significantly higher than average incomes - defendants with a disposable income of more than £37,500 - will no longer be automatically eligible for financial support in criminal cases; those who have no strong connection
with the UK will cease to have their civil legal costs covered too. Prisoners who wish to challenge their treatment in custody will be able to do so through the prisoner complaints procedures rather than using a lawyer through legal aid; on Judicial Reviews, lawyers who bring weak cases will no longer be paid and cases with less than a 50% chance of success will no longer be funded. Chris Grayling says ‘this is a comprehensive package of measures to restore the public’s faith in the system’.

He has also announced that no barrister should earn more from public funds than the Prime Minister’s salary of £142,000. read full article

The Tony Shepherd Case
By Charlottte Rowles
Charlotte Rowles highlights a case that Inside Justice is now investigating

You’re nicked
By Nigel Newcomen CBE
A review of adjudications

A Guide to Representing Yourself in Court
By Noel Smith
Noel Smith looks at a useful new guide from the Bar Council

Court in the Inaction
By Name supplied
A prisoner currently at Wormwood Scrubs prepares to go to court to be sentenced only to find his case had been postponed because the judge had gone on holiday!

Legal Aid: back in the firing line
By Andrew Sperling
Andrew Sperling looks into what the government’s latest proposals might mean for prisoners and what can be done to try to stop them

At the mercy of the Prison Service
By Charles Hanson
Charles Hanson on the changes to the legal aid system for prisoners

Appeals: Who can help me? How much will it cost?
By Marie Akers
Marie Akers, appeal lawyer at Petherbridge Bassra Solicitors concludes her series of articles dealing with appeals and answers questions regarding lawyers and funding in the conduct of appeals

Guilty pleas and reduced sentences
By Anna Moran
The Court of Appeal has given guidance on the interpretation of the Sentencing Guidelines Council’s 2007 guidance document on reductions for guilty pleas. Anna Moran highlights a few points

Month by Month
By Rachel Billington
This month Rachel hones her grammar with a book called Written English, by Duncan Hazelden, and admires the Zen Garden at HMP/YOI Parc

Jonathan King writes
By Jonathan King
Appreciating the good things about being alive

Typewriters in Prison
By Rebecca Broadbent
Prison Law Legal Assistant Rebecca Broadbent laments the demise of the manual typewriter in prisons

Notes from the other side of the wall
By Danny Cash
Danny Cash is a life-sentenced prisoner who communicates with Urban Times via letters which are transcribed to be published online. Offering a unique and topical insight into prison as a microcosm of society

Some of us just need a second chance
By Ashley Blake
Ashley Blake tells of his fall from grace and with the help of others his climb back up

Incentives and Earned Privileges
By Francesca Cooney
The Incentives and Earned Privileges system has been around since 1995. It supports an ‘exchange’.

Launch of an Alcohol and Crime Commission
By Eric Allison
The Guardian’s prisons correspondent Eric Allison reports on the launch of an Alcohol and Crime Commission

From over the wall
By Terry Waite CBE
Terry Waite writes his monthly column for Inside Time

Transformers: Robots in disguise?
By Diane Curry OBE
To ‘transform’ rehabilitation we must look beyond the processes and the detail of delivery and remember the individuals whose future we are deliberating

Prison Widow
By by a Prison Widow
I received a brilliant picture from a pal off Facebook the other day. It said:

Recent study highlights the problems of past abuse
By Dr Paul Rogers
Dr Paul Rogers draws attention to the Ministry of Justice’s most recent, comprehensive study to examine the previous experiences of prisoners across the UK

Fraudulent trading or bad business – where is the line drawn?
By Joseph Kotrie-Monson
Joseph Kotrie-Monson of Mary Monson Solicitors looks at what happens when a business goes under and the police get involved

OASys - Wonder or Wall in helping or halting your progression?
By Emma Davies and Marcus Crawley
Emma Davies, Head of Prison Law at HINE Solicitors and Marcus Crawley of the department examine the Offender Assessment System...

Challenging Search Warrants
By Aziz Rahman, Solicitor and Jonathan Lennon, Barrister
The calm before the storm…

New! Volume 4 of
insidepoetry book
is now available!

A collection of poems by prisoners of all backgrounds.

Availabe to buy from this site! Volume 1,2 and 3 are also still available and you can SAVE by purchasing bundles!

Subscribe

You can subscribe to insidetime Newspaper and get the paper each month delivered to your door!