“Excellent” immigration cases blocked?

Proposed changes to legal aid will block immigration cases with “excellent prospects of success”, lawyers have warned.

Proposals for a residence test for civil legal aid and reduced legal aid funding for judicial review are set out in the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) consultation, Transforming Legal Aid, which closes on 4 June.

In its response this week, the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association (ILPA) said the proposals would result in people with good cases being unable to bring them because they cannot pay or, if eligible for legal aid, are unable to find a lawyer.

Under the residence test, legal aid applicants other than asylum seekers must show “strong connections” to the UK and have lived here lawfully for a year.

ILPA said the proposal to pay providers only for judicial review applications would “undermine the use of pre-action protocols” and make it more difficult for people to find representation.

An MoJ spokesperson says: “There will be some exceptions to the residence test. We would also ensure that legal aid would continue to be available where necessary to comply with obligations under EU or international law.”