House of Lords - House of Commons - Joint Committee on Human Rights: The Implications for Access to Justice of the Government's Proposals to Reform Legal Aid - HL 100 - HC 766
Auteur: Great Britain: Parliament: Joint Committee on Human Rights
Nombre de pages: 86 pages
ISBN: 0108551636, 9780108551635
Edition: The Stationery Office
Date de publication: The Stationery Office
Description: The Government should reconsider its proposals for the reform of legal aid, says the Joint Committee on Human Rights (HLP 100/HCP 766, ISBN 978018551635). While accepting that it is legitimate for the Government to introduce a residence test for civil legal aid and to restrict the scope of prison law funding, it calls for more and broader exemptions from these proposals to make it less likely that they will lead to breaches of the fundamental right of effective access to justice in individual cases. The Committee welcomes the exemptions the Government has so far made to its proposed residence test in the light of responses to its consultation, but is still not satisfied that the proposed test will not affect vulnerable groups. The Committee is also concerned that the exceptional funding framework may not be working as intended and could therefore leave certain groups unable to access legal aid when human rights law requires it. The Committee is also concerned about the proposal to remove cases with borderline prospects of success from legal aid funding, as these cases may include determination of significant human rights issues. The Committee concludes that this may raise equality of arms issues, and lead to a potential problem in relation to the creation of precedent to guide lower courts which will in turn affect a large number of cases.