Bach Commission on Access to Justice: Appendix 5 AN ANALYSIS OF THE EVIDENCE By Sir Henry Brooke Bach Commission on Access to Justice – Appendix 5 This paper sets out an analysis of the evidence received on some (but not all) of the main issues the Commission had to consider when writing its report Please note: This appendix was written by Sir Henry Brooke and considered by the Bach Commission. It should not be read as the collective work of the commission. September 2017 Appendix 5: An analysis of evidence received by the Commission Contents CHAPTER 1: Legal Aid Expenditure Overview ................................................................................ 6 The pre-LASPO Impact Assessment .................................................................................................... 6 Overall Annual Legal Aid Expenditure for the base year 2010-11 and the four post-LASPO years (2013-2014 to 2016-2017) (£’000s), budgeting measure of expenditure in real terms ..................... 6 Exceptional case funding (2013-2014 to 2016-2017) ......................................................................... 7 Number of applications granted ..................................................................................................... 7 Number of legal aid providers ............................................................................................................ 7 CHAPTER 2: Family Law ................................................................................................................ 9 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 9 Exceptional Case Funding (family cases)........................................................................................... 11 The Domestic Violence Gateway ...................................................................................................... 11 The effect of LASPO and of the fees charged in family law cases .................................................... 12 The restoration of legal help in private family law cases ................................................................. 15 Problems with cross-examination in family cases ............................................................................ 16 Suggestions for the reform of LASPO in family cases ....................................................................... 17 CHAPTER 3: Housing Law ............................................................................................................ 19 Expected reductions from baseline year and actual outturns .......................................................... 19 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 19 Cost benefit analysis of the value of early interventions in the housing field .................................. 19 The situation post-LASPO – an overview .......................................................................................... 20 Lack of legal aid for damages claim for breach of repairing covenants ........................................... 21 The reduction in the number of legal advice providers in the housing field .................................... 22 The Legal Aid Agency: the consequences of its bureaucracy in housing cases ................................ 23 CHAPTER 4: Immigration Law ..................................................................................................... 24 The accreditation scheme ................................................................................................................. 24 The effect of LASPO in immigration cases ........................................................................................ 24 The complexity of immigration law .................................................................................................. 26 The effect of Article 8 ECHR .............................................................................................................. 28 Current concerns about the state of access to justice in immigration cases ................................... 29 Home Office shortcomings create avoidable expense ..................................................................... 30 The impact of cuts on separated migrant children ........................................................................... 32 CHAPTER 5: Welfare Benefits ..................................................................................................... 33 Expected reductions from baseline year to action outturns ............................................................ 33 The effect of the removal of legal aid for advice and assistance on welfare benefits ..................... 33 Housing benefit ............................................................................................................................. 33 2 Appendix 5: An analysis of evidence received by the Commission Other welfare benefits .................................................................................................................. 34 The cost of medical evidence in support of a benefits claim ........................................................... 36 The cost of restoring legal aid in relation to housing benefit issues ................................................ 36 How can the present arrangements be improved? .......................................................................... 36 CHAPTER 6: The Legal Aid Gateway Telephone Service ................................................................ 39 Debt, discrimination and education law cases ................................................................................. 39 The use of the telephone gateway in discrimination cases .............................................................. 40 The use of the gateway in debt cases ............................................................................................... 41 The Public Law Project’s Report ....................................................................................................... 42 CHAPTER 7: Exceptional Case Funding ........................................................................................ 44 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 44 The first year ..................................................................................................................................... 44 The second year ................................................................................................................................ 46 The present state of the law ............................................................................................................. 47 Summary: ...................................................................................................................................... 47 The Lord Chancellor’s current guidance to caseworkers .................................................................. 48 The third and fourth years ................................................................................................................ 50 Specific fields in law .......................................................................................................................... 51 CHAPTER 8: Exceptional Case Funding (Inquests) ........................................................................ 54 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 54 The meaning of the systemic and operational duties in ECHR Article 2 ........................................... 55 The current pressure for the most generous approach ................................................................... 57 CHAPTER 9: The Rights of Children to Access to Justice ............................................................... 59 International obligations ................................................................................................................... 59 Options for the future ....................................................................................................................... 60 OPTION 1: Reinstate cuts to legal aid for children and vulnerable young adults ......................... 60 OPTION 4: Create a new young person-focussed legal support scheme ..................................... 61 CHAPTER 10: Judicial Review ...................................................................................................... 63 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 63 The problems that are created when providers are placed on risk .................................................. 64 CHAPTER 11: Criminal Justice ..................................................................................................... 66 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 66 The police and the CPS ...................................................................................................................... 67 The harnessing of technology ..........................................................................................................