Court of Appeal confirms earlier High Court ruling that the Lord Chancellor’s guidance on the scheme is unlawful
In a judgment handed down this morning the Court of Appeal considered six cases in which the High Court had ruled that the Director of Legal Aid Casework had acted unlawfully in refusing applications for “exceptional” legal aid.
PLP acted for ‘IS’ who is blind, has profound cognitive impairment and is unable to care for himself. IS lacks litigation capacity and is represented through the Official Solicitor. IS has lived in the UK for at least thirteen years.…
We are seeking an experienced lawyer to head our casework team for a year during a period of maternity leave, manage a major and exciting project concerned with the availability of legal aid, and help formulate the strategic direction of our work during that time.…
PLP’s staff and trustees were deeply saddened to learn of the recent and untimely death of Phil Michaels. Phil was a creative and talented lawyer who made a great contribution to the advancement of public law. He was liked and respected by all who knew him, and our thoughts are with his family, his children and his friends.…
On Friday 19 September the High Court will consider whether to grant permission for Rights of Women’s legal challenge of the lawfulness of Government changes to legal aid to be heard. These changes are preventing victims of domestic abuse from getting legal aid for family cases, even when it is clear there has been violence, or there is an ongoing risk of violence. Represented by the Public Law Project and supported by the Law Society, Rights of Women argue that this is not what parliament intended.…
PLP is recruiting a trainee solicitor through the Justice First Fellowship; a scheme which has been established to help talented law students establish sustainable careers with a focus on access to justice. The Scheme has been established by The Legal Education Foundation, in partnership with other funding organisations in the social welfare law sector.…
In a powerful judgment delivered today the Divisional Court has confirmed that Government proposals to introduce a “residence test” for civil legal aid are unlawful. The thrust of those proposals was to prevent those who could not prove 12 months lawful residence in the UK from accessing the legal aid scheme.…
The Public Law Project has produced a further briefing regarding measures in Part 4 of the Criminal Justice & Courts Bill relating to Judicial Review.…
The Law Society is supporting a challenge brought by the Public Law Project on behalf of Rights of Women, over the lawfulness of Government changes to legal aid which are preventing victims of domestic abuse from getting legal aid for family cases, even when it is clear there has been violence, or there is an ongoing risk of violence. Rights of Women argue that this is not what parliament intended.…
"Unjustified", with "significant implications for effective access to justice" and " problematic from the point of view of the rule of law". The Joint Committee on Human Rights today released a strident report on the Government’s judicial review reforms. Following on from last year’s damning report into the implications for access to justice arising out of the Government’s previous tranche of legal aid cuts, including the residence test for civil legal aid, today’s report undermines the Lord Chancellor’s rationale for the ongoing judicial review reforms, both the changes to the payment regime for judicial review work that came into effect on 22 April 2014 and the measures in part 4 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill currently going through Parliament, and warns of their consequences.…
New payment arrangements for publicly funded judicial review cases came into force this Tuesday.…
The Public Law Project has released briefing papers for parliamentarians and civil society organisations (CSO’s) on the judicial review reforms included in the Criminal Justice & Courts Bill currently being debated in Parliament. Judicial review is a vital tool to hold public bodies to account, and the effect of the Bill would serve to insulate unlawful executive action from judicial scrutiny.…
Topic: Inclusive Education: what will Children & Families Act and other educational reforms mean for inclusive education? How can we use the law and the UNCRPD to protect and promote inclusive education?
Speakers: David Wolfe: Barrister Matrix Chambers; Jane McConnell from IPSEA (tbc) & Simone Aspis Campaigns Officer at Alliance for Inclusive Education…