Legal Aid Scheme: Domestic Abuse

(asked on 5th July 2016) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Government is taking to investigate the effect of means testing for legal aid on the ability of domestic violence survivors to access justice.


Answered by
Shailesh Vara Portrait
Shailesh Vara
This question was answered on 13th July 2016

The Government is absolutely clear that victims of domestic violence must have access to the help that they need, including access to legal aid.

We are working closely with various domestic abuse support groups and legal representative bodies to gather information about the existing evidence requirements for obtaining legal aid in private family law cases involving domestic violence.

Whilst examination of means testing is not the purpose of this exercise, the review may uncover any issues relating to application of the means test to this particular group.

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