Committee warns access to justice could be compromised
Domestic violence victims and children should be excluded from the government’s proposed residence test for civil legal aid, say MPs.
In a report published last week, the Joint Committee on Human Rights warned that access to justice could be compromised unless more exemptions are included in the test, which would restrict legal aid to those lawfully resident in the UK for at least 12 months.
They recommended that the residence test be introduced through primary legislation to allow for more Parliamentary scrutiny; called for all children to be automatically exempt from the test; asked for the exemptions to include victims of domestic violence; and concluded that the test could deprive individuals who lack mental capacity and cannot litigate in person access to justice.
The Committee also called for changes to proposed restrictions on legal aid for prisoner cases, including urgent reform to the internal prison complaints system to place the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman on a statutory footing with guaranteed independence. The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) should be able to grant funding for certain cases, for example, those involving prisoners with mental health difficulties, and young offenders, they said.
They criticised plans to remove funding for “borderline” cases, where it is not possible for the LAA to decide if the case has a poor chance or a more than 50% chance, as “raising equality of arms issues”.
Hywel Francis MP, chair of the committee, says: “We would urge the government not to fall into the trap of knowing the price of everything but the value of nothing. We are particularly worried about the impact of the residence test on vulnerable groups such as children or victims of domestic violence.”
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