Quantitative research into the potential effects of legal aid cuts on outcomes in civil justice.
The research looks at how proposed changes to Legal Aid may affect the way in which people deal with their law-related problems, and on how their problems conclude.
The research uses data from the Civil and Social Justice Survey. The research found that if Legal Aid changes are implemented, we can expect:
- Fewer social welfare legal issues, especially housing problems, to end in agreement;
- More people to give up trying to bring their divorce and relationship breakdown problems to a satisfactory conclusion; and
- An increase in the demand for tribunal hearings, for a variety of interrelated reasons.
The reports suggests that the risk that poorer people will have a reduced level of access to justice in relation to employment problems compared with the present will need very careful quantification and mitigation.
This research has been made possible by the kind support of the Bar Council.
Author: Laura Bradley, Strategic Society Centre
Download the report: Cutting Legal Aid – Advice sources and outcomes in civil justice