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| Legal aid immigration case guidance 'unlawful' - judges | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Guidance on granting legal aid for exceptional immigration cases is "unlawful", judges have ruled. | |
| The High Court previously said the guidelines issued by Lord Chancellor Chris Grayling were "too restrictive" and it overturned refusals of civil legal aid in six cases. | |
| The government then appealed against that decision to the Court of Appeal. | The government then appealed against that decision to the Court of Appeal. |
| Master of the Rolls Lord Dyson has now ruled on that challenge and upheld the earlier decision. | |
| The case centres on guidelines about exceptional funding, setting out who is still eligible to apply for legal aid in certain immigration cases following the government's legal aid cuts. | |
| The scheme was intended to act as a "safety net" but the threshold for eligibility was set too high, said BBC legal affairs correspondent Clive Coleman. | |
| Those applying for the funding have now been given hope after the Court of Appeal's ruling, he added. | |
| Ruling on the guidance, Lord Dyson said: "It correctly identifies many of the factors that should be taken into account in deciding whether to grant exceptional funding, but it neutralises their effect by wrongly stating that the threshold for funding is very high and that legal aid is required only in rare and extreme cases." | |
| The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said it would "carefully consider" its next steps following Monday's ruling. | |
| An MoJ spokesman said: "We continue to believe that the exceptional funding scheme is functioning as intended. Its purpose is to provide funding where it is legally needed. | |
| "Legal aid is a vital part of our justice system but resources are not limitless and must be properly targeted at the cases that need it most. | "Legal aid is a vital part of our justice system but resources are not limitless and must be properly targeted at the cases that need it most. |
| "The system must be sustainable and fair for those who use it and the taxpayers who pay for it." | "The system must be sustainable and fair for those who use it and the taxpayers who pay for it." |
| Shadow Justice Minister Andy Slaughter said: "The government's legal aid cuts were rushed through before preparing the necessary evidence to justify them. | |
| "Labour, alongside most of the legal profession, warned that this would raise substantial barriers to access to justice. David Cameron should listen and fix the mess he has created." | |
| 'Bar too high' | |
| Mr Coleman said that MoJ figures showed there were 1,500 applications for exceptional funding between April 2013 and March 2014 - and that only 57 were granted. | |
| "That shows the bar had been set high," said Mr Coleman. "According to the Court of Appeal this morning, the bar was set too high." | |
| He said the government would need to look at the threshold test again, and added: "I think this gives hope to those who are applying for exceptional funding. | |
| "This funding is available in circumstances where if you didn't get it, there would be a breach of your human rights. So that's the ground on which you apply for it. | |
| "But the threshold test that the government set - they have said it's only in rare and extreme cases - it looks as though there's going to be more hope for people making those applications and that that threshold may be eased somewhat as a result of this judgement." | |
| The government made wide-ranging changes to how legal aid is provided as part of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, known as Laspo - with section 10 dealing with exceptional funding applications. | |
| It was intended that the flagship legislation would lead to the legal aid bill being reduced by £350 million a year by 2015. Most of the reforms came into force on 1 April 2013. | It was intended that the flagship legislation would lead to the legal aid bill being reduced by £350 million a year by 2015. Most of the reforms came into force on 1 April 2013. |
| When Mr Justice Collins ruled on the six refusals of civil legal aid in June, he said it was "a fundamental principle that anyone in the UK is subject to its laws and is entitled to their protection". | |
| The judge added: "Thus there must be a fair and effective hearing available and the guidance, as the facts of some of the cases I have dealt with show, produces unfairness." | |