Bulletin readers may recall the concerns voiced over UK legal aid cuts and their effect on human rights. A consortium of family and children's charities now fear that domestic abuse victims are at risk due to legal aid cuts as they may now be cross-examined by their alleged assailants. The groups, including Women's Aid, Liberty and the Bar Council and have published a Manifesto for Family Justice.
They claim that the proposed reforms may result in perpetrators cross-examining victims, as they will not be entitled to legal representation. This is generally a rare occurrence but is set to become more common under the new reforms.
The chairman of the Family Law Bar Association, Stephen Cobb QC stated "we will see an increasing number of people going to court on their own representation. This is DIY justice not access to justice. We face the very real prospect that many children and women who have been victims of domestic abuse will have to endure the further trauma of being cross-examined by their alleged perpetrator."
Liberty comments that the proposed amendments to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill will mean that justice will be inaccessible for the majority of people. In addition "vital human rights" will suffer and the most vulnerable in society will be the worst affected.
Furthermore, it has been stated that there could be an increase in costs for the government because of the cuts as there will be greater problems in courts. This will result in the Ministry footing the bill for additional resources such as those created by perplexed litigants dealing with weighty legal issues.
Click here to view a piece by the Guardian.
Click here to view a piece by Liberty.