Legal aid cuts will cause “inequality of arms”
Date: 07 January 2011
Issue: Vol 160, Issue 7447
Categories: News
The civil legal aid cuts will have potentially dangerous consequences for domestic violence victims and children and families facing care proceedings, the Family Law Bar Association (FLBA) has warned.
Stephen Cobb QC, FLBA chairman, said that although the FLBA was supportive of rational initiatives which help tackle the national debt, the government should consider all the consequences fully as there would be an “inequality of arms” in cases involving domestic violence before the courts.
“The alleged victim will be entitled to public funds, whereas the alleged perpetrator will not,” he said.
“There is a real risk of a surge in the number of allegations, and possibly cross-allegations, of domestic violence in order to be able to qualify for public funds.”
Last month, the Ministry of Justice restricted legal aid for civil and family matters as part of a £350m cuts package.
Cobb warned: “Equally worrying is in private law children cases, if a judge considers that serious child protection issues arise such that the threshold for a care or supervision order with respect to the child may be satisfied, the court may direct the appropriate authority to undertake an investigation of the child’s circumstances under s 37 of the Children Act 1989. While this investigation takes place, an interim care order can be made. In effect, this means that parents could have their children removed, and because they would not be entitled to legal aid, they would go unrepresented.”
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