The Government's announcement of its intention to cxte' l ci s legal aid
to the County Courts was the logical corollary t0,1,10 proposal, announced in the Queen's Speech, to enlarge 'es County Court jurisdiction. But, important as these chant are, there is a major blemish on the legal aid scheme should receive even earlier attention. As the law stands a ill yllo brings an unsuccessful action with legal aid may have all Ws costs paid by the State while his successful opponent has to pay his costs out of his own pocket with no hope of com- pensation. No provision is made for the payment of such costs out of the legal aid fund and in very few cases' can an effective order for costs be made against the assisted person himself. The mischief goes beyond the comparatively small number of cases in which the assisted person loses his case in court. The mere fact that one party to an action has obtained, a legal aid certificate is often enough' to make the other offer a compromise, however strong his case, rather than fight on such uneven terms. If the State is going to •enable people to Lake bad cases to court (and obviously the assisted person can- not always be in the right) it should at least see that their unfortunate opponents (who are often not much richer them- selves) are not required to pay the whole of the costs they have incurred in resisting them.
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