Asylum seekers' lives at risk, due to lack of legal aid, charity warns

Refugee Action have also claimed that there has been a plunge in the number of legal aid providers in areas of asylum law. Although asylum cases were protected from cuts to legal aid provision in 2012 all others area of immigration law were removed which has caused the reduction in the available free advisors.  

 

In addition, changes were made in 2006 to the way legal aid providers were paid, instead of being paid by the hour they are now paid by unit of work, which has discouraged providers from taking up cases and when they do they appear to be spending less time on them. The charity also states that there has been a 56% drop in the number of providers offering legal aid for immigration and asylum cases since 2005. 

 

Refugee Action said in its report, Tipping the Scales, Access to Justice in the Asylum System, that such advice could mean the difference between being sent back to a country where they face death or being given the opportunity to successfully rebuild their lives in safety. 

 

Stephen Hale, the chief executive of Refugee Action, said: "A fair and effective asylum system depends on those fleeing conflict and persecution having access to good quality legal advice and independent information.

 

"However, our research shows that drastic cuts in legal aid provision are tipping the scales of justice and putting lives at risk. The government must act now to ensure the legal aid system is fit for purpose."

 

The report found 26 local authority areas with more than 100 people seeking asylum have no local legal aid provision, and in 46 local authority areas the number of people seeking asylum exceeds the number of cases legal aid solicitors can provide by more than 100.

 

Refugee Action and NACCOM (No Accommodation Network) have called on the government to carry out a comprehensive public review of legal aid provision. Hazel Williams, the national director of NACCOM, said: "Frontline organisations in our network are too often finding it impossible to refer people seeking asylum to legal aid solicitors. 

 

"For those in the asylum system, being able to access legal advice can mean the difference between being sent back to a country where they face certain death or being given the opportunity to live safely in the UK." 

 

Legal aid cuts were introduced by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government in 2012 under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders (LASPO) Act, which was met with derision from the legal sector.

 

The graduated fees scheme, which changed the way in which legal aid work was paid, was introduced under the Labour government in 2006.

 

Many Peters Solicitors

Immigration Solicitors

London