Government proposals to introduce a one-year residency test for eligibility for civil legal aid have been ruled unlawful by the High Court.
The court unanimously held the test was ultra vires, unlawful and unjustifiably discriminatory, in R (on the application of PLP) v Secretary of State for Justice [2014] EWHC 2365 (Admin).
Delivering his judgment, Lord Justice Moses said regulations made under an Act of Parliament must be consistent with the aims of that Act, which the residence test would not be. Instead, the test was “entirely, focused on reducing the cost of legal aid”.
Jo Hickman, head of casework at Public Law Project, which brought the judicial review, says the judgment “provides a timely illustration of the importance of judicial review as a check on unlawful executive action”.
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