Court Fees Hike

As anyone involved with the Civil Justice system will know, there has been another recent increase in court fees. Once again, this is not just an 'inflation-related' increase, but a huge hike intended to make those that use the courts pay for the system. Is this right? More and more we seem to be getting a three-tier legal system. At one end of society we have those few people who are eligible for legal aid (if they can find a legal aid solicitor) or who are eligible for a fee exemption and at the other end the wealthy who can afford to pay. In between the majority of the population are finding it harder and harder to afford access to justice. I can recall a few years ago having a client who was just ineligible for legal aid (I was then still one of the foolhardy solicitors that offered a legal aid service) or a fee exemption but who could not afford the fee to issue divorce proceedings, and I think the fee was then only £40. She was in tears and couldn't afford to go ahead. I would like to think that somehow she subsequently scraped the £40 together and got her divorce, but I'm sure she couldn't now with the fees for a divorce now totalling £340. No doubt the Department for Constitutional Affairs hope that the new fees will largely be 'hidden' behind the fact that they will be included in solicitors' bills, thereby adding to the general consensus that solicitors are solely responsible for the expense of litigation.