 The government has today announced a months-old 'task force' to root out 'crooked lawyers' lodging false asylum claims for thousands of pounds. Regulatory bodies, law enforcement teams and other government departments will lock arms to target solicitors and barristers found to be deceiving the courts. The Professional Enablers Taskforce had been carrying out preliminary work over the past few months, the Home Office said. Fresh prosecutions – including life in prison – will also be brought to 'corrupt lawyers' found to be breaking the law. The Home Office announced the clampdown today following reports that a number of lawyers agreed to help file fake applications for an undercover journalist posing as someone fleeing their country for a better standard of living. Justice Secretary Alex Chalk said: 'This government is committed to stopping the boats – that means breaking the business model of criminal gangs and holding to account unscrupulous lawyers who aid and abet them by abusing the legal system.' The Tory government has vowed to 'stop the boats'AFP or licensors But the task force raised eyebrows at the Law Society, that represents solicitors in England and Wales, given that powers are already in place to do this. The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) prohibits lawyers from duping courts – if found to do so, they can be struck off. 'This 'task force' has been around for months now, so it is not clear what, if anything, the government is announcing today,' Law Society deputy vice president Richard Atkinson said. He added: 'The focus of the Home Office on a tiny minority of lawyers to which they are apparently applying considerable resources should not deflect from the fact that there remains significant backlogs in asylum claims or the unworkability of the Illegal Migration Act.' Bar Council chairman Nick Vineall KC has do){kind=link}
NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
The government has today announced a months-old ‘task force’ to root out ‘crooked lawyers’ lodging false asylum claims for thousands of pounds.
Regulatory bodies, law enforcement teams and other government departments will lock arms to target solicitors and barristers found to be deceiving the courts.
The Professional Enablers Taskforce had been carrying out preliminary work over the past few months, the Home Office said.
Fresh prosecutions – including life in prison – will also be brought to ‘corrupt lawyers’ found to be breaking the law.