access to justice and funding

• Access to Justice


  A key aspect of our legal system is that it should be accessible to all. This is needed to ensure that justice can truly be served. Accessibility involves ensuring that there is an open and transparent legal system, but also that those wanting to access justice can afford the costs of a case.
• Accessibility to justice has been a rising problem in our English Legal System
• Task


  Read the following news articles and identify some prevalent issues with accessing justice in our English Legal System
• News articles


  • https://www.theguardian.com/law/2016/nov/02/top-judge-court-fees-access-justice-judiciary
  • https://www.barcouncil.org.uk/resource/access-to-justice-can-t-survive-further-budget-cuts-new-report-from-the-bar-council.html
  • https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/contact-or-visit-us/press-office/press-releases/civil-legal-aid-millions-still-without-access-to-justice
  • https://www.uklsa.co.uk/equality/access-to-justice/#:~:text=The%20greater%20proportion%20of%20the,justice%20for%20the%20unrepresented%20%2F%20self%2D
• If someone has a legal problem, it is important that they can seek advice should they need it
• Sources of legal advice

  • Websites
  • Helplines
  • Citizens Advice
  • Law Centres
  • Trade Unions
  • Schemes run by lawyers
  • Schemes run by law students
  • Charities
  • Duty solicitor schemes
• Websites


  The first place to start for many individuals will be seeking advice from websites. This can be a good tool to learning more about the Court systems but becomes less accessible when trying to understand how the law may apply. It may be unclear which sources are reliable, and with how quickly our laws change, many sources may now be out of date.
• Helplines


  Besides helplines as part of law firms or charities, there is a government-funded helpline called Civil Legal Advice (CLA). Through this service, individuals can get legal advice on certain matters.
• Citizens Advice


  Citizen Advice bureaus were first set up in 1939. In England and Wales, there are approximately 1,600 locations that have a citizens advice bureau in them. They give general advice free to anyone on a variety of issues, most of which are connected to social welfare problems. They can signpost individuals to further legal support such as identifying the solicitors that do legal aid or give cheap or free initial interviews.
• Citizens Advice is a very important legal advice service that is regularly used. In 2022-2023, they gave 457,000 face to face legal advice. They helped 1.8 million people via their phone service and 895,000 people through email or webchat. Their website received 42.7 million visits. Due to their advice centres, they were able to save the government and public services at least £681 million.
• Law Centres


  The first Law Centre opened in 1970. They are a free, non-means-tested legal service. Law Centres employ lawyers and other professionals, who are experts in this kind of everyday problem [housing, work, benefits etc.]. They give people legal advice and can represent them if they need it. They use the law to solve problems that hold people back, so they can get on with their lives.
• Law Centres rely on funding from legal aid contracts, local authority funding and corporate and charitable donations. Due to the cost-of-living crisis and reduction of government funding in this area, this has reduced the amount of Law Centres available. Before the 2000s, Law Centres peaked at 60 locations across the country. This has now been reduced to 41 Law Centres, meaning fewer people are living within a catchment area of a Law Centre.
• Trade Unions


  Trade Unions offer free legal advice, but only to those who have a membership. This advice will typically be for work-related problems but can offer other advice such as personal injury advice. There are various trade unions across the country. Unite is currently the biggest trade union in the country. You can also get trade unions for specific sectors e.g., the National Union of Teachers and the British Medical Association.
• Schemes run by lawyers

  Some solicitors will offer a free half-hour first interview. However, this short consultation may not provide lots of opportunity to get the advice you need. Lots of law firms now include pro bono (legal work without charge) and volunteering as part of their corporate responsibility. Some solicitors will have arrangements with their local Citizens Advice bureaus to go in and offer advice on legal matters. Advocate is a pro bono unit run by volunteer barristers, They give free advice to those who cannot afford to pay and who cannot get legal aid. The barristers can help with any area of the law and may even be able to represent an individual in court.
• There are various legal charities in the United Kingdom that will aim to provide support to those that do not qualify for legal-aid or cannot access any other means of support.
• Legal charities


  • Shelter: This charity provides legal advice regarding housing problems.
  • Support Through Court: For individuals who have no choice but to represent themselves in court, this charity will help source reliable legal information, explain complex court procedures, assist in completing court forms and helps people feel prepared for their case.
• Duty Solicitor Schemes


  Anyone that is held as a suspect at a police station has the right to free legal advice. There will be a duty solicitor that is able to come give advice. This service is government funded and is available 24 hours a day. Despite the increase in the number of suspects needing legal advice, the number of duty solicitors signed up has decreased over the years due to their services being overstretched and overworked.
• Private funding of cases

  • Own resources
  • Insurance
  • Conditional Fee Agreements
• Own resources


  Private funding requires individuals to pay for legal services themselves. Typically, individuals will pay for a solicitor and/or barrister to help with a legal matter. Consulting professional legal help can be expensive. Funding privately can only put people into financial difficulties or may prevent people from pursuing a case in the first place.
• Insurance


  Within most insurance policies, there is an option to opt for legal coverage. For example, most motor insurance policies will offer cover (for an additional amount) for help with legal fees in cases arising from road accidents. Another example is home insurance. These often cover any legal claims arising from someone being injured on the premises. Many of these services must be paid for 'before the event' i.e., before there is a known legal claim.
• Conditional Fee Agreements


  More commonly known as 'no win, no fee' arrangements, these agreements means that the client only pays the solicitor's fees if they win and pays nothing if they lose. Success fees (what the solicitor gets for winning the case) can be up to 100% of the normal fee. For personal injury cases, the success fee is capped at 25% of the damages. Ultimately, these arrangements could leave the client with very little of their damages left.
• Conditional Fee Agreement


  • Normal Fee: £4,000
  • Fee If the Case is Lost: £0.00
  • Success Fee: £2,000
  • Cap on the Success Fee: 25% of Damages
  • If the Case is Lost: £0.00
  • If the Case is Won and the Client Gets £50,000 in Damages: £6,000 (£4,000 + £2,000)
  • If the Case is Won and the Client Gets £6,000 in Damages: £5,500 (£4,000 + £1,500*)
  • *due to 25% cap
• Public funding of civil cases

  • Legal Aid
• Legal Aid


  Legal Aid comes from the government's budget. This means that the amount of funding allocated to Legal Aid is set each year and could be of varying amounts. In recent years, there have been budget cuts which have affected the amount of Legal Aid available. This means that not everyone will be able to access Legal Aid. Whether someone is able to get Legal Aid is based on strict means testing. In Civil Law, Legal Aid is only available for certain civil categories, such as children's rights, liberty of the individual and mental health cases. It is not available for breaches of contracts or certain claims in tort law (such as personal injury, trespass to the person, land or property).
• Legal Aid (Means Testing - Disposable Income)

  To decide whether a person is eligible for Legal Aid, their income and capital is considered. Firstly, a calculation is taken of the person's disposable income. This is their gross income minus tax, national insurance, housing costs, childcare costs, personal allowance etc. If the amount left over (the disposable income) is lower than the set criteria for Legal Aid, then they will be able to access funding from Legal Aid. If the amount is above, they will not qualify for Legal Aid.
• Legal Aid (Means Testing - Disposable Capital)


  They will look at the individuals' financial assets, such as savings, houses and mortgages, stocks and shares etc., to see how much they have. There is an £8,000 limit that has been set. If an individual's financial assets are over £8,000, then they must use their own money to fund any legal case. If they have spent that £8,000, then they become eligible for funding.
• Public funding of criminal cases

  • Legal Aid
• Legal Aid (Criminal)


  Criminal Legal Aid services are now separately run under the Legal Aid Agency in the Ministry of Justice. The agency makes contracts with law firms to provide legal services to people who are charged with criminal offences. To access this representation, an individual must qualify under the 'interests of justice' test and a means test.
• Legal Aid (Interests of Justice)


  A defendant will need to show that their case comes within at least one of the five 'interests of justice' factors.
• Legal Aid (Magistrates' Court Means Testing)


  On top of the 'interests of justice' test, if the defendant's case is in the Magistrates' Court, they will also need to satisfy the means testing. Anyone who is on Income Support, under the age of 16 or under the age of 18 and in full-time education are automatically qualified for Legal Aid. For everyone else, the individual's gross annual income is considered. If it's below the set limit, then they will qualify for funding. The current limit is at £12,475 which means that around 75% of adults do not qualify for Legal Aid in criminal cases in the Magistrates' Courts.
• Legal Aid (Crown Court Means Testing)


  On top of the 'interests of justice' test, if the defendant's case is in the Crown Court, they will also need to satisfy the means testing. The difference between the Magistrates' and the Crown Court is that the Crown Court has a higher upper limit for testing gross income. This is current set at £37,500 (it is £22,325 for Magistrates' cases); those with this income are ineligible for Legal Aid. If a defendant is found guilty, they may have to pay extra from their capital. If the defendant is found not guilty, any contributions paid will normally be refunded.
• Exam structure and marking bands
• Exam assessment criteria