Criminal legal thresholds too low

Three-quarters of adults in working households do not have the right to receive legal aid for cases before a magistrates’ court,
research by the New Policy Institute (NPI) shows.

The NPI claims that since means testing was re-introduced last October legal aid in magistrates’ courts is restricted to people not in work and those working in households with the lowest incomes—particularly those where part-time work only is being done. Peter Kenway, NPI director, says the thresholds which determine whether someone is eligible for legal aid should be revised upwards so that more people are included. Currently, single adults are eligible for legal aid if their gross annual income is below £11,590, while they are not eligible if it exceeds £20,740—between these limits, a further test is conducted to see if net income less a cost of living allowance exceeds £3,156.

Kenway says: “The question is whether the effects of what it has enacted are what Parliament expected. In particular, did it intend to remove eligibility from 75% of adults in working households?”

A government spokesman says: “The new means test has been designed to identify as fairly as possible an applicant’s genuine ability to pay. Even in circumstances where a defendant does not pass the means test, the hardship review provision will still afford an additional safety net for those applicants who face unusually high defence costs.”