Shropshire lawyer warns of changes in legal aid
A Shropshire solicitor has warned families across Shropshire that many could end up without legal representation because of planned changes to the funding of legal aid.
Layla Blackmore, a family law expert for PCB Solicitors, argues that proposed changes in legal aid legislation could mean many residents will not have access to advice which was previously available. The planned legal aid reform, which comes into force from April 2013, will mean only certain cases will be entitled to public funding, such as incidents of serious domestic violence, cases where there is a risk of child abuse, and cases where it can be proved that, without the benefit of public funding, there will be a breach of Human Rights legislation. It will eradicate funding for other family cases like divorce and private child law, such as contact and residence disputes, although funding will still be available for care proceedings and injunctions.
The reform has been put in place in the hope more families will resolve problems outside of the judicial system, through counselling and mediation. It also aims to slash £350 million from the annual £2.2 billion legal aid bill.
Layla Blackmore said: “The changes in the legislation may prove catastrophic for some families. Legal aid was originally made available to help provide the right to fair legal advice and representation, but these reforms look set to make public funding much more difficult to obtain, or in many cases completely unavailable.
“The reforms aim to steer civil and family cases away from the court arena, but in some situations this is simply not possible, family cases such as parental contact can be extremely complex, and simply cannot be resolved through mediation. In a worst case scenario, many people could be tempted to try and navigate the legal system alone, potentially resulting in an unfair trial. I’d urge anyone dealing with a family case to contact us to see if it can be resolved before these proposals come into force, as the changes could make it much more difficult, and expensive, to find a solution,” Layla concluded.
According to figures from the Citizens Advice Bureau, legal aid currently provides funding for around 250,000 cases of divorce and family breakdown each year, and the proposed changes would see this figure reduced to around 40,000 cases.
