Study title

The dataset includes a set of transcripts of interviews with legal practitioners (Legal Executives, Solicitors, Barristers) who were involved in assisting applicants to the Criminal Law Cases Commission. Because of the Covid 19 pandemic some of the interviews were conducted remotely. The interviewees were asked to discuss the impact on their work and on their clients, of successive cuts in legal aid provision during the period 2014-2021.Since 1997 the CCRC has been the only independent reviewer of potential miscarriages of justice. It is an institution of crucial importance in the criminal justice process, as it acts to scrutinise the decisions, and decision making processes, of our criminal courts. Its ability to independently scrutinise such decisions increases legitimacy, accuracy and public confidence in the criminal justice system. However, the data held by the CCRC is difficult to access, requiring the consent and co-operation of the department, and the Ministry of Justice. Data held by the CCRC, coupled with data available from lawyers who prepare applications for review and cases on behalf of clients, offers a unique insight into how the CCRC has been affected by austerity measures initiated by recent governments. The CCRC reports directly to the Justice Select Committee, and raised concerns about the impact of legal aid cuts as part of those reports. In 2016, the Justice Select Committee agreed that such matters should be investigated, and tasked the CCRC with commissioning independent research on this subject. The CCRC released an unfunded call for suitably qualified researchers to examine the impact of funding cuts in early 2016, and the project team successfully secured access to the CCRC's unique data set as a result of that competitive tender. The full research proposal was agreed in spring 2017. This is particularly timely in light of the government's announcement (in early 2017) to conduct a review of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of...