An image of Chris Grayling held by protesters outside Westminster campaigning against legal aid cuts in 2014. Grayling was also the Lord Chancellor against whom cases were brought around the Exceptional Case Funding scheme. Photo: Press Association/Sean Dempsey. All rights reserved.
When the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (‘LASPO’) came into force in April 2013, it made sweeping cuts to the availability of civil legal aid in England and Wales. LASPO removed legal aid for whole areas of social welfare law including most immigration, welfare benefits, debt and housing cases, and most private law family disputes such as divorce and child custody proceedings. Limited exceptions were made, for example for victims of domestic violence or children at risk of abuse, or for cases where people’s home is at risk.
LASPO also contains a provision which is supposed to provide a “safety net” for cases where the denial of legal aid would lead to a breach of a person’s human rights, under the European Convention on Human Rights (‘ECHR’) or under EU law. This is the “Exceptional Case Funding” (‘ECF’) system under section 10 of LASPO.
