Charities Public Law Project (PLP) and Rights of Women (ROW) have brought a legal challenge against LASPO changes to legal aid, on the basis it bars domestic abuse victims from access to justice.
Legal aid was retained for victims of domestic abuse by LASPO, which stripped legal aid from all other private law family matters in April 2013.
However, victims have to provide evidence of abuse, which can be difficult for many people to get. In certain cases, a 24-month time limit applies although domestic abuse experts agree that many perpetrators remain a lifelong threat to their victims.
ROW and PLP say many victims are falling through the safety net, contrary to what Parliament intended when it enacted the safeguards contained in LASPO.
ROW director, Emma Scott says: “In our most recent survey, half of all women who were ineligible for legal aid because they did not have the required evidence of domestic violence said that they took no legal action as a result, leaving them at risk of further violence and even death.
“This legal action is taken on behalf of those women in order to hold the government to account on their promise to continue to make family law legal aid available to victims of domestic violence.”
Two women are killed each week by a current or former partner, while 500 recent victims of domestic violence commit suicide every year.
