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<p>Legal aid forms a vital part of our justice system and the Government strongly
believes that access to justice is the hallmark of civil society.</p><p> </p><p>The
most recent EU data allowing international comparisons of legal aid spend was collected
in 2010 and published 2012 by the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice
(CEPEJ). This can be found at: <a title="http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/cooperation/cepej/evaluation/2012/Rapport_en.pdf"
href="http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/cooperation/cepej/evaluation/2012/Rapport_en.pdf"
target="_blank">http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/cooperation/cepej/evaluation/2012/Rapport_en.pdf</a>.</p><p>
</p><p>This shows that the legal aid budget approved for England and Wales of 2.521m
Euros, was the highest of any of the 41 countries assessed. For more detail, see table
2.1 in the publication.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The publication also shows the
annual public budget allocated to legal aid per inhabitant, which controls for countries
having different population sizes. This shows that in 2010, England and Wales was
second highest of the 41 countries assessed, with 45.7 Euros of the public budget
allocated to legal aid per inhabitant, compared to an average of 7.7 Euros for the
other European countries. The country with the highest legal aid allocation per inhabitant
was Northern Ireland with 53.5 Euros. For more detail, see figure 2.22 in the publication.</p><p>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
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