Legal aid

The official solicitor sought judicial review of the exceptional case funding (ECF) scheme on the basis that it failed to properly deal with claims made by those who lacked capacity. The Administrative Court, in allowing the application, held that the ECF scheme did not ensure that applicants’ human rights were not breached or were not likely to be breached, in particular, the relevant forms were far too complex. Further, the rigidity of the merits test and the manner in which it was applied were wholly unsatisfactory.