The story of legal aid

On this page:

How it came about

William Beveridge’s 1942 report ‘Social Insurance and Allied Services’ recommended fighting five ‘giant evils’: want, disease, ignorance, squalor and idleness.

This led to the four pillars of the welfare state:

The importance of access to justice and the right to legal representation was recognised by the Rushcliffe Committee in 1945. Its recommendations led to the setting up of the first legal aid scheme.

Legal aid was looked after by The Law Society, the professional body that regulates and represents solicitors. The Legal Aid Board was set up in 1986 to process applications from solicitors for legal aid and pay the bills they sent in.

The Access to Justice Act 1999 created the LSC and replaced the Legal Aid Board on 1 April 2000.

The legal aid timeline

>back to top

 

Last updated: 21 June 2011

Documents
No documents
Links
About Us [1] - About legal aid [2] - Community Legal Service (CLS) [3] - Criminal Defence Service (CDS) [4] - Site Map [5] - Help [6] - Document Archive [7] - Search [8] - Home [9] - Cymraeg [c] - LSC Online [0]
[Access Key]

© 2010 Legal Services Commission. All Rights Reserved.
Read our: Legal Disclaimer, Privacy and Copyright Notice