Delivering judgment in The All England Lawn Tennis Club (Championships) Ltd v McKay (No 2) [2019] EWHC 3065 (QB), Chamberlain J highlighted a lack of clarity regarding how an individual facing an application in the High Court to commit them to prison for contempt should go about claiming legal aid. ‘There is no real doubt that such individuals are entitled to legal aid,’ he said, ‘the question is who has power to grant it’.
Solicitor advocate and NLJ columnist David Burrows said: ‘In proceedings in which the All England Lawn Tennis Club were seeking to commit an alleged ticket tout for failure to comply with an order against him, Chamberlain J considered who should grant any legal aid to him.
‘He said an earlier decision (King’s Lynn and West Norfolk Council v Bunning [2013] EWHC 3390 (QB)) was wrong and that it was for the Legal Aid Agency’s specialist committal department to grant legal aid within the criminal legal aid scheme (though the committal was within civil proceedings).’
Chamberlain J concluded that his decision should have no practical effect on the availability of legal aid because the Legal Aid Agency has an established procedure for determining applications expeditiously in cases of this sort. He encouraged litigants and providers of legal services to use this procedure rather than apply to the High Court for representation orders. For Court of Appeal cases, however, applications should be made to the court.
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