Domestic abuse victims to receive vital legal aid support under new reforms

The government has announced that thousands of domestic abuse victims will be able to access free legal advice and representation under new changes to the legal aid system introduced earlier this week.

This comes in an effort to support the use of Domestic Abuse Protection Notices and Domestic Abuse Protection Orders, which were introduced under the Domestic Abuse Act 2021.

Once in use, police will be able to issue Protection Notices to provide immediate protection for victims following an incident, for example by requiring a perpetrator to leave the victim’s home.

Protection Orders will impose longer-term protection, including ordering the perpetrator to attend behaviour change programmes or wear an electronic tag.

Victims protected by these will now have access to free expert legal advice and representation in court.

“Legal advice should always be available to those who need it, especially victims of domestic abuse who often rely on lawyers to ensure they are protected from abusers,” said Justice Minister Lord Bellamy KC, adding:

“By making it easier for victims to access legal aid, more people will be better supported through court proceedings and can start the process of moving on safely with their lives.”

Reforms to legal aid for domestic abuse victims have long been seen as absolutely pivotal, with Olivia Piercy, Partner at Hunters, spelling out the issues to Today’s Family Lawyer earlier this year:

“The cuts and chronic underfunding of legal aid have […] been devastating to victims and survivors of domestic abuse. Many people experiencing domestic abuse are unable to provide the acceptable evidence of abuse to secure legal aid. A large proportion of those who are eligible for legal aid are unable to find a lawyer willing or able to work at the prescribed rates. The vast majority of litigants, whether victims of abuse or otherwise, are ineligible for legal aid because they do not satisfy an irresponsibly stringent means test, but at the same time cannot possibly afford to pay privately for legal representation.

The gap between those who are financially eligible for legal aid and those able to pay fees privately – which are generally at least £10,000 if you’re going to court (but can cost hundreds of thousands) – is vast.

Most people fall into that gap, and where there is abuse it means victims having to represent themselves in court against their perpetrators.”

President of the Law Society of England and Wales Lubna Shuja also commented:

“We are pleased about the change in legal aid evidence requirements, which will allow a GP to provide medical evidence for a victim of domestic abuse following a phone or video consultation.

We have long called for this change. Only accepting evidence after face to face appointments has been a major barrier for victims during the pandemic when the majority of appointments have been taking place virtually – a practice that is still continuing.

The number of family legal aid offices has more than halved over the past decade. Firms have been closing their legal aid departments year-on-year, as it is no longer financially viable to do this type of work. The number of providers with civil legal aid contracts has been falling.”

Shuja concluded:

“The UK government needs to ensure there is a sustainable provider base to undertake this vital work and allocate proper funding and resource to it.”

The reforms do not, however, come without their caveats – the key one being that the support will not kick in until after a “future pilot” has been conducted, with no date for the reforms to come into effect ascertained as of yet.

Other changes announced by the Ministry of Justice included allowing doctors to submit letters of evidence for legal aid applications following video or telephone consultations. The MoJ also said they will:

• Ensure special guardians are eligible for legal aid in private court proceedings determining parental control over a child
• Standardise the means and merit testing requirements for birth parents involved in placement and adoption order proceedings where a local authority is authorised to place a child for adoption
• Ensure victims of domestic abuse applying for indefinite leave to remain in the UK, under the immigration rules, are eligible for legal aid