Legal Aid Scheme: Domestic Abuse

(asked on 17th December 2014) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the prescribed time period of evidence relating to legal aid funding of domestic violence cases refers to the time of the first application or the evidence of domestic violence.


Answered by
Shailesh Vara Portrait
Shailesh Vara
This question was answered on 6th January 2015

The Civil Legal Aid (Procedure) Regulations set out that once a legal aid certificate is granted, subsequent applications for either a new form of civil legal services or for new proceedings to be added to a certificate, and for which a new determination is being sought, will require further evidence to be provided.

This Government is absolutely clear that victims of domestic violence should get legal aid where it is needed to help break free from the abusive relationship. Since the reforms were introduced last year thousands of people have successfully applied for legal aid where domestic violence is involved.

The 24 month time limit for evidence does not exclude victims where the abuse occurred over two years ago. The time limit relates to the date the evidence was obtained, not the date of the abuse itself. Some forms of evidence can be obtained several months or even years after the abuse has been experienced.

Reticulating Splines