Our articles are written by experts in their field and include barristers, solicitors, judges, mediators, academics and professionals from a range of related disciplines. Family Law provides a platform for debate for all the important topics, from divorce
and care proceedings to transparency and access to justice. If you would like to contribute please email
emma.reitano@lexisnexis.co.uk.
Exceptional circumstances legal aid: the ‘fig leaf’ of a ‘system which is neither compassionate nor even humane’
© Copyright LexisNexis 2024. All rights reserved.
The election and prospect of a new government is upon us and legal aid has not made it onto the political or media agenda. Yet in the last month there have been stark warnings on the effects of family legal aid cuts from all corners: the senior judiciary the parliamentary justice and human rights select committees numerous charities the bar council and law society and even the UN committee on the rights of the child.
A particularly blunt declaration came from Mr Justice Mostyn in
MG and JG v JF [2015] EWHC 564 (Fam) at the beginning of March. He was faced with the common situation of litigants in person in a private law child contact dispute. More unusually MG and JG were lesbian partners who were opposing the child’s biological father’s application for contact. Mostyn J decided that it would be ‘impossible for MG and JG to be expected to represent themselves having regard to the factual and legal issues at large’. As such...
Read the full article here.
