Joint Committee on Human Rights report finds that reductions to legal aid and reforms to the system mean that for many people enforcement of their human rights is now “simply unaffordable.”
Large areas of the country are “legal aid deserts”, as practitioners withdraw from providing legal aid services since they can no longer afford to do this work.
The Committee said these cut backs cause “grave concerns for access to justice, the rule of law, and enforcement of human rights in the UK.”
This report comes as the Government reviews the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) and puts forward recommendations to feed into that review.