Society's vulnerable prioritised in new legal aid manifesto

The Legal Aid Practitioners Group (LAPG) has called for immediate changes to be made to the legal aid system to improve access to justice for vulnerable groups disproportionately affected by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO).

Last week, the Justice Select Committee concluded that government cuts in eligibility for civil legal aid had significantly impacted on some of the most vulnerable in society and had not achieved value for money for the taxpayer.

Despite this damning indictment, the government dismissed claims at the last House of Commons Justice Questions that legal aid was not reaching those that need it most.

Launching its manifesto for Legal Aid at the House of Commons to an audience of MPs, peers, legal aid practitioners and other stakeholders, the LAPG argued that changes to legal aid, and particularly those brought in under LASPO, had indeed had an adverse impact on those in need legal advice and representation.

The manifesto is intended to be a comprehensive document covering general issues affecting all areas of law as well as a category specific analysis.

It proposed a series of changes to legal aid provision and delivery which would alleviate the worst of the effects on the most vulnerable groups, such as children, the disabled and victims of domestic violence. Among the proposals are plans to:

• Amend the exceptional funding scheme so that it provides the genuine safety net;

• Abandon the residence test that has already been declared unlawful by the High Court;

• Amend the detail of the financial eligibility regulations;

• Change the judicial review rules now that regulations regarding payment before permission have been declared as unlawful;

• Abolish the Mandatory Telephone Gateway;

• Implement the changes recommended by the Low Commission in social welfare law; and,

• Undertake an urgent review of the those areas of law removed from the scope of legal aid

The LAPG, which represents solicitors, barristers and charities working within legal aid, claim the changes could be implemented swiftly by the next government and at little cost to the public purse.

Nicola Mackintosh QC (Hon), co-chair of the LAPG, said: 'The last few years have been a truly tumultuous period even for legal aid. LASPO introduced massive changes to the legal aid system, taking large areas of law out of the scope of legal aid altogether for the first time but also making significant changes to financial eligibility for legal aid. It is fair to say that the justice system has changed more in the last few years than in previous decades.

'As we have seen from successive Parliamentary Committee reports, including the Justice Select Committee published only last week, there have been unintended and unforeseen consequences of these changes, with most impact on the poorest in society - people with mental health needs, people with learning disabilities, people fleeing domestic abuse, people with chaotic lives who are in crisis, and of course, last but not least, children.'

Mackintosh paid tribute to all those working in the justice system who had witnessed first-hand the direct affect the government's cuts were having on the most vulnerable in society.

'We have seen advice centres, Law Centres, [and] solicitors' firms decide to give up legal aid because of impossible funding problems and the ever increasing bureaucracy of legal aid, with the result that clients have nowhere to go when they need help, even when their case remains in scope of legal aid,' she added.

LAPG co-chair Jenny Beck, spoke on the effect of LASPO on family law, and, specifically, those that have suffered from domestic violence.

'The very high threshold of specific evidence required for the domestic violence gateway has already resulted in 50 per cent of victims not being able to access the help they need,' she said. 'This leaves victims and their children at serious risk. The changes to financial eligibility have had a disproportionate effect of victims of domestic violence. Even an application for an order to protect a person from violence is less accessible so that many have no access to protection for themselves or their children.'

Beck continued: 'Because of the removal of initial advice to clients, the number of cases referred to mediation for family breakdown has plummeted. The changes have also disproportionately affected children who may be prevented from having contact with one parent and the extended the family because of a lack of legal advice for the parents.'

'There is now an access to justice crisis in family law. The conclusion of the Justice Select Committee that the LASPOA reforms have "harmed access to justice" must be heeded,' she added.

John van der Luit-Drummond is legal reporter for Solicitors Journal