Farron and Lamb respond to questions from Liberal Democrat Lawyers

The Lib Dem Lawyers' Association asked our leadership candidates Tim Farron and Norman Lamb a number of questions to probe their positions on key legal issue debates.

First off we asked about the rule of law as a liberal principle and as you might expect received positive responses. On all our questions both candidates gave good responses, though sometimes with a different emphasis - you can read the responses in full here.

There were a number of themes:-

On Access to Justice both took anti-LASPO (the legislation which cut back the scope of civil legal aid) positions - although both at the time voted for the legislation, Norman said "We were wrong…. this was quite possibly our biggest mistake in the last government" whilst Tim said "I don't think anyone could now defend the LASPO Act's reforms and we need to think again." As someone who lobbied all our MPs incessantly on this issue, I'm pleased to hear that, although much damage to free legal advice sector has already been done. On criminal legal aid, Norman also spoke about "modernising the criminal justice system" whist Tim spoke about "ending the deserts in provision."

We also asked about court and tribunal fee systems imposed to reclaim the business costs of running the courts and received rather different responses; Norman saying "We should reclaim the cost of our Courts and Tribunals system through user fees wherever we can - but they must be reasonable" and Tim saying "I'm against treating the courts as a business."

On the Secret Courts controversy, Tim gave a short answer - he was against them and voted against them, whilst Norman's answer was more nuanced reflecting on his position from inside the Government.

Both gave broadly similar answers on Prisons and the criminal justice system about diversion away from prison, with Norman going into much greater depth on drugs policy reform, mental health and youth issues.

Both were also passionate about defending the Human Rights Act, with Tim outlining some campaigning methods and Norman referencing some powerful case studies. On the theme of rights we also asked about ESC (economic, social, cultural) rights and whether the International Covenant should be given any enhanced status in our law - both supported the principle of ESC rights, but had reservations about this as such outcomes should be a matter for democratic, parliamentary and local political decision-making.

We asked about particular areas of law reform they might like to promote - both again mentioned drugs, and Norman addressed mental health detention whilst Tim mentioned company and employment law to democratise the workplace.

Finally we asked about politicians relationship with lawyers - often fraught over recent years; Norman referred to how collaboratively be had been able to work with health professionals whilst Tim said that direct control of the profession by politicians is a potential threat to freedom.

Overall, I'm pleased to say strong liberal answers from strong liberal leadership candidates. You should read their answers for yourself though.

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