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Human rights committee legal aid inquiry
The Joint Committee on Human Rights is conducting an inquiry into aspects of the proposed legal aid reforms, as set out in the coalition government’s consultation paper Transforming legal aid: delivering a more credible and efficient system, and their impact on access to justice. Initially, it is calling for written evidence and asking interested individuals and organisations to comment on the human rights implications of the inquiry’s terms of reference, ie:
•The proposed introduction of a residence test for civil legal aid claimants, so as to limit legal aid to those with a ‘strong connection’ with the UK.
•The proposed restriction on the scope of legal aid available to prisoners.
•The proposal that providers of legal services in applications for judicial review against public bodies should only be paid for work done on the case if the court grants permission for the application to proceed.
•The proposal that legal aid should be removed for all cases assessed as having ‘borderline’ prospects of success.
The deadline for written evidence is 27 September 2013. It is expected that public hearings will be held in October 2013.
Just before the inquiry began, Dr Hywel Francis, chairperson of the committee, wrote to Chris Grayling, the Justice Secretary, seeking an assurance that the government would not implement its proposed legal aid reforms until after the committee had had an opportunity to report. It has been reported that the Justice Secretary has written to tell the committee he will not be able to comply with the request. Dr Francis also asked the government to provide, by 27 September 2013, an assessment of the proposals’ compliance with human rights law, including their compatibility with article 6 (right to a fair trial) and article 14 (discrimination) in conjunction with article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights; to give a more comprehensive equality impact assessment; and to indicate whether the government intended to introduce each of its proposals by either primary or secondary legislation.