Am I entitled to Legal aid?
Court fees and legal aid,
The court leaflet ‘CB1 - Making an Application –
Children and the Family Courts provides more information on the types of Children Act applications and who can make them. A selection of the more common applications are set out below:
Applications under the Children Act 1989 – fees order 2.1 • Any new applications under the Children Act 1989 to request permission to issue proceedings or for an order or directions to be made concerning the child(ren) e.g. Child Arrangements Order, Prohibited Steps Order, Specific Issue Order or Special guardianship order - with the exception of applications for care and supervision orders which are issued by Local Authorities. £232 •
An application for an enforcement order under the Children Act 1989 or an order for compensation for financial loss, due to the breakdown of a child arrangement order £232 •
Application to revoke, amend, extend or take action following the breach of an existing Children Act 1989 enforcement order £102 There are only two instances in the family fees order where £245 is payable, Proceedings under the Children Act 1989 is not one of them. They are: • Fee 1.1 of the family fees order - On filing an application to start proceedings where no other fee is specified. £245 • Fee 1.6 of the family fees order - On filing an answer to an application for a matrimonial or civil partnership order. £245 Applications to issue new proceedings under the Children Act 1989 are defined as any application for an order where there are no proceedings for the child(ren) currently being considered by the court.
If proceedings under the Children Act 1989 are already being considered for the child(ren) the application fee for applications within proceedings will be charged. See the section headed ‘Applications within proceedings’ for further details. Please note an application for enforcement should be made first with a fee of £232 and only thereafter an application for a breach with a fee of £102 can be made.
Page 18 Adoption – fees order 3.1-3.3 • On an application for permission, or an order £183 One child or multiple siblings filed together is one fee of £183. If filed separately, and at different times, then a fee is payable of £183 each time. •
Application for a placement order (section 22) £490 One child or multiple siblings filed together is one fee of £490. If filed separately, and at different times, then a fee is payable for £490 each time. • Revocation of placement fee £183 If you are issuing applications for siblings at the same time only one fee is payable. Children Act and adoption applications Where an application is made or permission is sought under two or more provisions of the Children Act 1989, or the Adoption and Children Act 2002, or the Children and Adoption Act 2006, only one fee is payable, and if the fees are different, the highest fee is paid.
What is your family problem about?
Legal Help – Where To Go
The House of Commons Library has published a document which outlines where people can go to get legal help and advice.
The 20-page guide is broken down into five sections:
Finding legal help
Self-representation
Legal aid
Pro bono legal help
Other ways of finding legal advice, including organisations which provide
help and advice regarding specific legal issues.
It’s a comprehensive resource with helpful information, but we know many of RR’s readers will have used a fair number of organisations listed in the guide which they will have discovered are not particularly good.
These are the ones we rate, and one to explore:
Citizens Advice – Their website is a great place to start but we suggest ringing up your local bureau and speaking to someone. Bonus tip: if your family law matter is complicated consider ringing a bureau in a major UK city like London, as they are more likely to have the knowledge to answer your questions.
City Law School’s City Community Legal Advice Centre (CityCLAC) – Very efficient legal advice service which combines high quality advice and support while training up young lawyers. The advice you receive should come from an experienced lawyer who is being shadowed by the students. Bonus tip: Email them at clac@city.ac.uk for a swifter response.
Finding Legal Options for Women Survivors (FLOWS) – An organisation we have not had any experience with, but may be useful to domestic abuse survivors and victims who access this site. The charity’s service is delivered by the Family Team at the Royal Courts of Justice Advice Bureau, in partnership with Rights of Women. Bonus tip: use this interactive map to find a local support center.
You can access the guide here.
Cuts to Legal Aid are Threatening Our 800 Year-Old Principle of ‘Justice for All’
To put it simply, legal aid is vital so that everyone has equal access to justice. But right now, it isn’t working for everyone.
The Law Society has previously warned that cuts to funding have created “legal deserts”, leaving many people unable to seek justice and assert their basic rights. They hail them as a “lifeline for the vulnerable” – but one left in a precarious position after successive governments have changed the way it’s funded.
Legal aid can provide essential financial support to people facing anything from domestic violence to homelessness, but with both MPs and lawyers warning over both it’s availability and financial viability, are we losing one of our most basic rights?
What Is Legal Aid and Why Does It Matter?
To understand how important legal aid is, we need to look at the historic right to “justice for all”, and it’s a legal principle which goes a really long way back.
It was first stated in 1215, with Magna Carta saying that “we will not deny or defer to any man either Justice or Right”.
Justice for all means that everyone has a right to be heard before an unbiased judge, in public and in a reasonable amount of time.
The right to a fair trial has been reaffirmed in many human rights declarations since, stressing the importance of being heard by an unbiased judge, in public, and in a reasonable amount of time.
It also means that everyone has a right to be assisted by a lawyer. If someone is unable to pay, this is where the state needs to step in with Government funding.
Legal aid is a vital part of ensuring we all have equal access to justice and a fair trial, as set out in Article 6 of the Human Rights Convention. The foundations of the system were first laid down in 1949, and later expanded in the 1970s and 80s.
The ultimate ambition was ensuring that no one would ever be financially unable to seek justice and, thus, that we would all be really equal before the law.
Assistance was available in almost all legal disputes – including civil matters such as family, welfare benefits, immigration and asylum, and housing. Most people basically had effective access to the system if they needed it.
The ultimate ambition was ensuring that no one would ever be financially unable to seek justice and thus that we would all be really equal before the law.
Positive recent updates on Legal aid funding.
Thousands more people will get access to early legal help over the next 2 years after the government announced £12 million of new grant funding today. (28 November 2022).
From: Ministry of Justice and Lord Bellamy KCPublished28 November 2022
£12 million to help vulnerable people struggling with legal problems
focus on early intervention to resolve issues before going to court
33,000 supported since October 2020
The funding will be awarded to charities and organisations providing support for people facing disputes – helping them to better understand their issues and avoid costly court proceedings.
More than 33,000 people have been supported by organisations receiving similar government grants since October 2020 and nearly two-thirds of cases were resolved before reaching court.
Justice Minister Lord Bellamy said:
Those who most need support should be able to access it quickly and easily, which is why we’re increasing funding for organisations providing this vital service.
Early intervention helps prevent people from undergoing lengthy court proceedings - saving time, money and unnecessary stress.
It adds to more than £5 million of investment this year, including a £1 million cost-of-living grant, to help organisations respond to increasing demand for free legal advice. Specialist guidance is offered in person, by telephone or online, to help deal with problems before they escalate or to support those who need to appear in court.
The grant will replace the current Help Accessing Legal Support grant worth £3.2 million which is due to end in June 2023.
The funding benefits people in difficult situations including Helen (not her real name), who was supported by an organisation funded by the grant after leaving an abusive relationship. She continued to suffer harassment from her ex-partner and contacted her local free advice charity who provided guidance on navigating family court proceedings. Helen was able to secure protective court orders aimed at restricting her ex-partner’s access to the family home and preventing violent behaviour against her and her daughter.
Helen said:
[The advisor] gave me sound legal advice to help me make choices to keep me safe and get my house back.
If I had not had access to the [advice] it is quite likely that I may have not had the courage or the understanding to go to court to seek these orders, or even worse, that I would have returned to an abusive and volatile relationship as I would not have had any other option.
This legal support is provided by organisations across the country, using the funding where it is needed.
Cara Walker, Mobile Legal Adviser at Norfolk Community Law Service, said:
Providing outreach legal help to people is vital in a large rural county like Norfolk. The Ministry of Justice funding enables me to work with clients on a long term basis in community settings, who have a range of complex legal problems-including welfare benefits, domestic abuse and immigration.
Cathy Ashley, Chief Executive of Family Rights Group, said:
Our Advice and Advocacy Service provides social care and legal expertise to families, including parents whose children are in need or subject to child protection enquiries and relatives raising children who cannot live at home.
The Help Accessing Legal Support Grant is funding our new webchat service for families and is enabling us to provide more intensive support to callers to our advice line, allowing more children to live safely and thrive within their families and safely averting them entering a care system already in crisis.
Further information on how charities and organisations can bid for the funding will be made available shortly.
Source link https://www.gov.uk/government/news/millions-invested-to-support-vulnerable-people-navigating-legal-issues
In May 2012 the coalition government decided to cut the annual £2.1 billion cost of the legal aid system, putting this into effect by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO).
The LASPO – which entered into force in the spring of 2013 – made severe cuts by reducing the scope of the system and restricting eligibility criteria.
Whole branches of the law – including debt and housing, employment and immigration law, family law and welfare benefits – are now no longer funded by legal aid.
Whole branches of the law – including debt and housing, employment and immigration law, family law and welfare benefits – are now, as a general rule, no longer funded by legal aid. In areas where legal aid is still available, changes to the eligibility rules have reduced access to the program.
Hundreds of thousands of people were affected. In the year before LASPO took effect, there were nearly 574,000 new civil cases involving legal aid. The figuredropped to about 174,000 the following year, and to 140,000 in 2017/2018.
The Law Society has warned that these changes especially affect low-income people on welfare benefits, who are now often excluded for exceeding the capital threshold. Special concern was expressed also for victims of violence domestic. A 2016 Amnesty International report also emphasised the effects on marginalised groups such as children and immigrants.
Even those who are still entitled to legal aid find it hard to access it. Thanks to relentless cuts, many law firms can no longer afford to offer legal aid services. Data from the Legal Aid Agency shows a number of areas of the country – “legal aid deserts” – which have little or no provision of legal aid advice in key areas of law.
Asylum seekers especially struggle to access the legal advice they’re eligible for, and there has also been a steep rise in “unrepresented litigants” (that is, people standing in court without a lawyer).
Let’s Make Legal Aid Great Again
However, nothing here is new. The Law Society denounced the detrimental impact of the cuts long before the LASPO came into force, and, in 2017, it published a thorough review of the implications to access to justice and a fair trial.
They reinforced their view in October 2018, highlighting the devastating effect of the cuts on vulnerable and marginalised groups and how justice was becoming a privilege of the wealthy.
Cuts to legal aid has seen the Joint Committee on Human Rights express “grave concerns for access to justice, the rule of law, and enforcement of human rights in the UK.
In July 2018 the Joint Committee on Human Rights report also expressed “grave concerns for access to justice, the rule of law, and enforcement of human rights in the UK”.
So, what next? The Government is currently conducting an ongoing review of legal aid, after a public consultation.
The next steps will be vital to ensuring access to justice remains a right for all of us – cuts have tipped the scales, leaving behind the most vulnerable. It is due time for some rebalancing in order to ensure justice is for all, not just the rich.
UPDATE
More support for those representing themselves in court
People representing themselves in court will receive enhanced legal support following £3.1 million in additional funding the Ministry of Justice has announced.Published 19 August 2020
Last updated 19 August 2020 — see all updates From:Ministry of Justice new £3.1 million grant to enhance free legal advice and supportjointly delivered by Ministry of Justice and Access to Justice Foundationmajor £500,000 investment already awarded to national projectsIn a joint initiative with the Access to Justice Foundation, funding will be provided to not for profit organisations across the country to provide free legal support - ensuring better advice and clear guidance for those without legal representation in court. Crucially, alongside helping litigants in person to understand legal processes and their rights within them, they will also be provided with practical support throughout the duration of proceedings.This is a key milestone in the MOJ’s Legal Support Action Plan, which is helping people resolve legal problems at the earliest opportunity.MOJ has already awarded over £500,000 to national charities through this grant, delivering:an improved helpline that provides practical and emotional support to clients throughout the court processweb-based legal advice that enables people on low incomes to access free legal advice sooneran online hub that offers a greater range of solutions to legal problems, including advice for remote hearingsAround £270,000 of the grant has been diverted for emergency support to several organisations providing vital expert advice to litigants in person, ensuring they can continue to offer their services during the coronavirus pandemic.Justice Minister, Alex Chalk said:This money will improve legal support for those representing themselves – helping them to navigate the justice system.I am delighted to deliver this with our partners at the Access to Justice Foundation, and look forward to building similar partnerships to ensure people across the country have the necessary support.Lord Goldsmith QC, Chair of the Access to Justice Foundation, said:The Foundation is pleased to be working in partnership with the MOJ to deliver this new funding that will further improve the experience of vulnerable people facing the legal process alone.The new services covered by the national funding stream will help to ensure that litigants in person have routes to free or affordable legal advice and that people in need are able to access the right type of support, at the right time.We look forward to continuing our work with the MOJ to distribute additional grants to support a wide range of projects at a local and regional level later this year.Martin Barnes, Chief Executive of LawWorks, said:We are delighted to receive funding to enable us to scale up and put on a sustainable basis our new Free Legal Answers website.The website will help enable access to initial legal advice for people on low incomes, supported by a network of referral organisations and a growing number of solicitors willing to support people in need through pro bono volunteering.
Notes to editors
Please see our wider Legal Support Action PlanThis new funding, known as the Legal Support for Litigants in Person programme, is split between grants for services provided at national, regional and local levels. Working closely with the charities delivering them, these different services will be collectively evaluated to build up our understanding of how they combine to provide the best support.The MOJ and ATJF have already awarded over £500,000 of these grants to a number of larger charities to provide new national-level services:Support Through Court (STC) and RCJ Advice – who are partnering to expand STC’s national telephone helpline to include the addition of new family referral routes into RCJ Advice, as well as piloting a new remote support initiative.LawWorks – who will scale up their Free Legal Answers website service, which enables people on low incomes and not eligible for legal aid to access free, initial legal advice by describing their issue, or asking direct questions.Law for Life – who will add new resources to their Advicenow website to assist people to deal with a range of legal problems, as well as creating new guidance to help individuals appear in the virtual court effectively. They will also use the new funding to undertake research to expand understanding of digital and legal capability.Background on the organisations already funded by Legal Support for Litigants in Person:Support Through Court (STC) and RCJ Advice. STC is a charity dedicated to providing free, independent assistance and emotional support to people facing proceedings without legal representation. RCJ Advice is a unique Citizens Advice service who deliver free legal advice to people who cannot afford a solicitor and need assistance with preparing, or dealing with a Civil or Family court case. RCJ Advice also provide a range of other specialist services, such as the Finding Legal Options for Women Survivors (FLOWS) projectLawWorks are a charity working in England and Wales to connect volunteer solicitors with people in need of legal advice, who are not eligible for legal aid and cannot afford representation, and with not-for-profit organisations who can support them.Law for Life are a national public legal education charity. Their Advicenow platform already provides an online one-stop-shop for anyone experiencing legal problems in England and Wales. The website provides instant access to regularly updated resources from a range of sources, including GOV.uk, Citizens Advice, Shelter, Mencap, Age UK and specialist advice organisations.A further £2 million of funding from the programme will be awarded to smaller not-for-profit organisations at regional and local levels in the autumn. Distribution of this funding has been moved back in order to give those organisations more time to manage the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and put together proposals.In the meantime, around £270,000 of the grant programme has been diverted for emergency support to a number of organisations providing vital expert advice to litigants in person, to help them deal with COVID-19 demand. Through this diverted funding, we have, so far, provided emergency funding to Citizens Advice Devon, Norfolk Community Law Services, Citizens Advice Middlesbrough and Citizens Advice North Lancashire.This emergency funding is in addition to the MOJ’s £5.4 million cash injection for law centres and other legal advice charities to help people with housing, debt, discrimination and employment problems during the COVID-19 crisis.The new grant will build on the more than £9 million that the MOJ has invested in support for litigants in person in the civil and family courts since 2015, through the MOJ’s existing Litigants in Person Support Strategy (LIPSS).
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Solicitors available for advice and mediation in the Daganaham and Romford area.
