The High Court in England & Wales has capped at £150,000 the costs exposure of four barristers bringing a judicial review against the Legal Service Board (LSB) over the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA).
The basis for the legal challenge is that the QASA "offends fundamental issues of justice". The claimants had originally sought to cap their potential costs at £15,000. Capping the claimants’ potential costs at £150,000, Mr Justice Ouseley said that the original sum would have been merited “if just the four of them were claimants in substance”. However, he said but the fact that the claimants were representing members of a wider organisation (the Criminal Bar Association) with resources and ability to raise funds from its entire membership were relevant factors in deciding the level of costs cap. The judge also said “the case is said to be important to its 3,800 members, and to have their near unanimous support.”
Mr Justice Ouseley outlined what might be considered to be a reasonable financial contribution of the wider organisation; “I recognise the parlous position of many members of the CBA, but not that it is so generally parlous that the quite modest sum of £100 could not be raised from each of 1,500 members for an issue of this importance, or a lesser sum per head, if more were willing to step up to the plate.”
Click here to read a summary of Mr Justice Ouseley’s comments on the LegalFutures website.
Click here for further information about on the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates.