Children at risk

Vulnerable children may be disenfranchised from the legal process because of reductions in funding for barristers in family law cases, the Bar Council has warned. The Legal Services Commission (LSC) has said in a private briefing that it is planning a 15% reduction in funding for legal representation in publicly funded family cases. Chair of the Family Law Bar Association, Lucy Theis QC, accused the LSC of putting increasing pressure on the family law system: “It should come as no surprise that the LSC hasn’t got the courage publicly to announce this latest assault on legal aid…The expertise of the barristers who practise in this area of the law is relied upon by both the litigants and the judges. Further cuts will not only reduce those who are willing to undertake this important work but also discourage those from wanting to specialise in this area,” she says.