A women’s charity has launched proceedings at the High Court in London challenging recent legal aid restrictions.
Rights of Women claims that many women who experienced domestic violence struggle to access legal aid for court proceedings. They claim restrictions imposed by the Civil Legal Aid (Procedure) Regulations 2012 contravene the European Convention on Human Rights, as well as the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, by preventing legal aid funding for family disputes thought to be linked to domestic violence.
The charity plans to push for clarification of the law. It claims:
“… domestic violence remains a vastly under-reported crime and the Government need to take steps to increase confidence in the legal system and raise awareness of the devastating effect that domestic violence has on women.”
A full hearing is expected later this year.
Hopefully this claim gets short shrift – it is another gender biased group on their mission to gain advantage.
Couldn’t agree more with you Luke. If legal aid is granted, it should be to both parties.
As I understand it, the ‘fear’ of domestic violence is all that is necessary now for someone to claim that domestic violence has occurred.