Access to Justice

• If a person cannot access or afford the help they need then they are being denied access to justice.
• In civil cases the fees can run to up hundreds of thousands of pounds and there is the risk of being ordered to pay the other side.
• In criminal cases, a person's liberty is at stake to having access to justice is extremely important.
• The administration of legal aid since April 2013 has been operated by the Legal Aid Agency which is part of the Ministry of Justice.
• Initially, legal aid is not available for civil cases unless specified in the Legal Aid, Sentencing, and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.
• The categories which can get legal aid in civil cases are those which include child's rights and the liberty of an individual.
• The Government do provide a budget for legal aid but it is never enough, and therefore there are strict means in order to qualify.
• The individual must prove that they don't have enough money. People receiving income support or job seeker's allowance automatically qualify, they also qualify if their gross income is below a certain level.
• Disposable income is worked out by starting with the person's gross income and taking away:

  • Tax and national insurance
  • Housing costs
  • Childcare costs/maintenance payments
  • An allowance for themselves and each dependent
• If after the disposable income is worked out the amount left is below the minimum level then the applicant does not have to pay any contribution towards their funding.
• If the amount of disposable income is above the maximum level then they won't receive legal aid.
• s13 Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 states that: "initial advice and initial assistance are to be available...to an individual who is arrested and held in custody at a police station or other premises if the Director (of Legal Aid Casework) has determined that the individual qualified for such advice and assistance..."
• Since 2013 criminal legal aid services have been under the jurisdiction of Legal Aid Agency.
• The agency makes contracts with law firms to provide legal services to people charged with criminal offences.
• In order to get representation the defendant has to qualify under the "interest of justice" test and a means test:

  1. Whether the individual would be likely to lose his liberty or livelihood or suffer serious damage to his reputation
  2. This case will involve consideration of a point of law
  3. The individual is unable to understand the proceedings in court or to state his own case
  4. The case may involve the tracing, interviewing, or expert cross examination of witnesses
  5. It is in the interests of another person that the individual be represented, like a rape case.
• For means testing, any defendant who is under 16 or those under 18 in full-time education will automatically pass the test.
• For the magistrate's court, the income level is low so about 3/4 don't qualify.
• The means test for the Crown Court:

  1. No upper limit on disposable income so all defendants can get legal aid.
  2. The higher the income, the more they contribute
  3. The maximum amount of money to contribute varies on type of case
  4. If the defendant is found guilty, they may have to pay more.