Legal Aid and Covid-19: What Happens Now?
It's not top of everyone's mind in everyday life, never mind in a crisis, but a hugely important aspect of our justice system is that everyone, even and especially the most vulnerable of our society, must have access to justice.
But what now? The majority of courts are closed and, while the greatest efforts are being made to conduct remote hearings the majority of those awaiting a hearing will be impacted in some way by the pandemic.
The most sobering element to be considered is the amount of children who will be impacted by this crisis, who make up a large proportion of legal aid cases. With most working adults now being forced to stay at home, there will be a large spike in cases of domestic violence- already seen in the 25% rise in calls to domestic violence helplines in the 5 days from the 30th March (as stated in The Independent article by Lizzie Dearden.) Local Authorities will struggle to seek protective orders over children when they don't have the insight of school life- a safety net for many children. With Family courts struggling to work at anywhere near full capacity, it will be impossible for all applications to be heard, leaving children in potentially very dangerous situations.
(Side note- if you are reading this as a hope to find help or information regarding domestic abuse- please follow this link https://www.nationaldahelpline.org.uk/)
Whilst both the Legal Aid Agency and the Law Society have provided their official advise regarding Legal Aid- both seem mainly concerned with the impact the situation will have on lawyers rather than the impact on those needing to utilise the system. Whilst it seems the courts have been lenient in allowing adjourning court hearings, it seems that this could be abused in that those who need their hearings to change their abusive situation, could end up having their hearing adjourned by their perpetrator.
There are many groups which are being affected by this pandemic, and cannot have their case heard- however there are also many who are not eligible for legal aid, and therefore are unable to have their case heard anyway. It is a deeply saddening situation that while we have what seems a modern society justice system, we are not utilising modern technology enough to progress the system and give everyone a voice.
I'm not writing this with any answers to this situation, as I don't think anyone has the answers. As a student of the law I hope to go on to fight these issues and help as many of the most vulnerable of society that I can and hope that one day, everyone will have a voice and be able to be heard in our justice system. But as we continue to discover, these are unprecedented times, and all we can do is look out for each other.
Stay safe everyone!
But what now? The majority of courts are closed and, while the greatest efforts are being made to conduct remote hearings the majority of those awaiting a hearing will be impacted in some way by the pandemic.
The most sobering element to be considered is the amount of children who will be impacted by this crisis, who make up a large proportion of legal aid cases. With most working adults now being forced to stay at home, there will be a large spike in cases of domestic violence- already seen in the 25% rise in calls to domestic violence helplines in the 5 days from the 30th March (as stated in The Independent article by Lizzie Dearden.) Local Authorities will struggle to seek protective orders over children when they don't have the insight of school life- a safety net for many children. With Family courts struggling to work at anywhere near full capacity, it will be impossible for all applications to be heard, leaving children in potentially very dangerous situations.
(Side note- if you are reading this as a hope to find help or information regarding domestic abuse- please follow this link https://www.nationaldahelpline.org.uk/)
Whilst both the Legal Aid Agency and the Law Society have provided their official advise regarding Legal Aid- both seem mainly concerned with the impact the situation will have on lawyers rather than the impact on those needing to utilise the system. Whilst it seems the courts have been lenient in allowing adjourning court hearings, it seems that this could be abused in that those who need their hearings to change their abusive situation, could end up having their hearing adjourned by their perpetrator.
There are many groups which are being affected by this pandemic, and cannot have their case heard- however there are also many who are not eligible for legal aid, and therefore are unable to have their case heard anyway. It is a deeply saddening situation that while we have what seems a modern society justice system, we are not utilising modern technology enough to progress the system and give everyone a voice.
I'm not writing this with any answers to this situation, as I don't think anyone has the answers. As a student of the law I hope to go on to fight these issues and help as many of the most vulnerable of society that I can and hope that one day, everyone will have a voice and be able to be heard in our justice system. But as we continue to discover, these are unprecedented times, and all we can do is look out for each other.
Stay safe everyone!
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