Royal Assent has been given for the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill. The Bill was introduced in the House of Commons on 21 June 2011 and received Royal Assent on 1 May 2012. The passing of the Act means a wide range of changes to the justice system can now go ahead. They include: creating a new offence of threatening people with a knife in public or at schools, with a mandatory prison sentence; focusing legal aid on cases where legal help is most needed, where people’s life or liberty is at stake or they are at risk of serious physical harm, face immediate loss of their home or their children may be taken into care, and reducing the £2.1 billion per year legal aid bill for England and Wales.
The full press release is available here on the Justice website: http://www.justice.gov.uk/news/press-releases/moj/royal-assent-for-legal-aid,-sentencing-and-punishment-of-offenders-bill
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