Legal Aid Cut
The Refugee Council’s submission to the Campaign Against Legal Aid Cuts (CALAC) about the impact of changes to legal aid [February 2005]
Between May and December 2004, the Refugee Council received 365 enquiries relating to legal advice; 18 per cent of these involved cases where people could not find a solicitor or whose solicitor refused to act any further. This document highlights the Refugee Council’s recent experience of legal referrals for asylum seekers since the introduction of the legal aid changes to curb expenditure on legal aid for asylum seekers in May 2004. Specifically, the document looks at the effects of the financial cap of five hours’ work for the initial decision-making process in asylum cases. Since 1 May 2004 when these measures were put in place, a significant number of solicitors’ firms have withdrawn from the field of asylum work in England and Wales leaving many asylum seekers without legal assistance. Published on February 2005 |
