Legal Aid System in UK Law

Leading Cases
  • R v Derby Magistrates' Court, ex parte B
    • House of Lords
    • 22 June 1995
    “

    It is a fundamental condition on which the administration of justice as a whole rests. It is a fundamental condition on which the administration of justice as a whole rests. Legal professional privilege is thus much more than an ordinary rule of evidence, limited in its application to the facts of a particular case. Legal professional privilege is thus much more than an ordinary rule of evidence, limited in its application to the facts of a particular case.

  • Connelly v RTZ Corporation Plc and Another
    • House of Lords
    • 24 July 1997
    “

    I therefore start from the position that, at least as a general rule, the court will not refuse to grant a stay simply because the plaintiff has shown that no financial assistance, for example in the form of legal aid, will be available to him in the appropriate forum, whereas such financial assistance will be available to him in England. Many smaller jurisdictions cannot afford a system of legal aid.

  • Waddon v Whitecroft Scovell Ltd
    • House of Lords
    • 11 February 1988
    “

    If, however, those who made them intended to lay down as a general proposition of law that, in deciding whether there is good reason for extending the validity of a writ, delays caused by the operation of the legal aid system should never be taken into account, I am unable to agree with such a proposition. Such delays occur and where they do it would be unrealistic to disregard their effect.

  • Balabel v Air India
    • Court of Appeal (Civil Division)
    • 16 March 1988
    “

    Where information is passed by the solicitor or client to the other as part of the continuum aimed at keeping both informed so that advice may be sought and given as required, privilege will attach. Moreover, legal advice is not confined to telling the client the law; it must include advice as to what should prudently and sensibly be done in the relevant legal context.

  • Symphony Group Plc v Hodgson
    • Court of Appeal (Civil Division)
    • 28 April 1993
    “

    6) The procedure for the determination of costs is a summary procedure, not necessarily subject to all the rules that would apply in an action. Thus, subject to any relevant statutory exceptions, judicial findings are inadmissible as evidence of the facts upon which they were based in proceedings between one of the parties to the original proceedings and a stranger —see Hollington v. Hewthorn & Co. Ltd.

  • R v Medway
    • Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)
    • 06 November 1975
    “

    We are satisfied and hold that there is no such jurisdiction In our judgment the kernel of what has been described as the "nullity test" is that the Court is satisfied that the abandonment was not the result of a deliberate and informed decision, in other words that the mind of the applicant did not go with his act of abandonment.

  • R (Refugee Legal Centre) v Secretary of State for the Home Department
    • Court of Appeal (Civil Division)
    • 12 November 2004
    “

    But the risk of unfairness must be reduced to an acceptable minimum. Potential unfairness is susceptible to one of two forms of control which the law provides. One is access, retrospectively, to judicial review if due process has been violated. The other, of which this case is put forward as an example, is appropriate relief, following judicial intervention to obviate in advance a proven risk of injustice which goes beyond aberrant interviews or decisions and inheres in the system itself.

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Legislation
  • The Civil Legal Aid (Merits Criteria) Regulations 2013
    • UK Non-devolved
    • Tuesday January 01, 2013
    ... ... the individual has exhausted all reasonable alternatives to bringing proceedings including any complaints system, ombudsman scheme or other form of alternative dispute resolution; (e) ... ...
  • Child Abduction and Custody Act 1985
    • UK Non-devolved
    • Tuesday January 01, 1985
    ... ... the provision of any civil legal services (within the meaning of Part 1 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and ... proceedings, except insofar as those costs may be covered by its system of legal aid and advice. Upon ... ...
  • Nationality and Borders Act 2022
    • UK Non-devolved
    • Saturday January 01, 2022
    ... ... 25: Civil legal services for recipients of priority removal notices ... steps to prevent the persecution by operating an effective legal system for the detection, prosecution and punishment of acts constituting ... ...
  • Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015
    • UK Non-devolved
    • Thursday January 01, 2015
    ... ... In section 128 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (power to change test ... ...
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Books & Journal Articles
  • Effective Participation of Mentally Vulnerable Defendants in the Magistrates’ Courts in England and Wales—The ‘Front Line’ from a Legal Perspective
    • No. 85-1, February 2021
    • Journal of Criminal Law, The
    • 0000
    Mentally vulnerable defendants who struggle to effectively participate in their trial in the magistrates’ courts are not receiving the same protection as those who stand trial in the Crown Court. T...
    ... ... On closer examination of the law, the legal aid system and perspectives oflegal professionals on the ‘front line’, it is clear that improvements in policy are of greaterimportance than legal reform ... ...
  • Legal Aid in the Eye of a Storm: Rationing, Contracting, and a New Institutionalism
    • No. 25-3, September 1998
    • Journal of Law and Society
    • 0000
    This article discusses possible rationales underlying a legal aid system through an articulation of theories of distribution in the legal services market, considers the idea of prioritization and p...
    ... ... are taken in a transparent andaccountable way.1Rising legal aid expenditure has driven the debate on structural reform ofthe legal aid system for several years. Allied to the concern for fiscal restraint© Blackwell Publishers Ltd 1998, 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK and 350 Main ... ...
  • International Cooperation between Investigation Authorities and Public Prosecutors
    • No. 1-2, February 1993
    • Journal of Financial Crime
    • 156-168
    This paper discusses international regulations in criminal law. Several definitions of ‘limited legal aid’ are considered. The system of the various criminal treaties, together with their additiona...
    ... ... He is also co-author of a software packet (expert system) on the investigation of social security fraud. Mr Koers also teaches ... Several definitions of 'limited legal aid' are considered. The system of the various criminal treaties, together ... ...
  • The Contingency Legal Aid Fund: A Third Way to Finance Personal Injury Litigation
    • No. 30-1, March 2003
    • Journal of Law and Society
    • 0000
    Northern Ireland missed out on all the major reforms to civil justice which took place in England and Wales during the 1980s and 1990s. However the reform movement is now gathering pace and a Legal...
    ... ... fee agreements (CFAs) butwidespread hostility expressed by many interested parties led to theconsideration of an alternative funding system, the Contingency LegalAid Fund (CLAF). The relative merits of CFAs and CLAF areconsidered in the following pages.INTRODUCTIONLegal aid in Northern ... ...
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Law Firm Commentaries
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Forms
  • Appeal a visa or immigration decision (within the UK)
    • HM Courts & Tribunals Service court and tribunal forms
    Immigration and Asylum Tribunal forms including the form to appeal a visa or immigration decision.
    ... ... 3. You receive Legal Aid ... 4. You are the person (or someone with parental responsibility for ... assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/ ... file/868037/ex160-eng.pdf ... You can also ... ...
  • Appeal a visa decision from outside the UK (ECO)
    • HM Courts & Tribunals Service court and tribunal forms
    Immigration and Asylum Tribunal forms including the form to appeal a visa or immigration decision.
    ... ... your appeal is of a type exempt from payment, you are in receipt of Legal Aid or Asylum Support or support under ... Section 17 of the Children’s ... Is your refusal on a points based system ... b. Post reference number ... Name of decision making post ... d ... ...
  • T420)
    • HM Courts & Tribunals Service court and tribunal forms
    Includes the refund form for claimants.
    ... ... and other professional advisers or, in Scotland, under the legal aid scheme, ... may be able to help you prepare your case ... If your ... about tribunal publications and explain how the tribunal system works ... They may be able to help you fill in the form but they cannot ... ...
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