The Law of unintended consequences
Last week I was involved in a very difficult final hearing involving parents arguing about residence...my client was represented the other side in person. During the hearing a number of things became clear as to the effects of the planned cuts to Legal Aid. Some of course are the more obvious which have been well documented e.g. Increasing the length of court hearings but a number of other things became clear:
1. Neither side would be eligible for Legal Aid in the case yet equally neither would have been able to afford any kind of expert assessment which happened to be vital in this case to help understand the needs of the child. What does the court do in those circumstances?
2. A way around for the problem above is for the court to appoint more Guardians under R16.4 and for the experts to be paid for on the legal aid certificate of the child - thus just transferring costs not saving them and meaning the appointment of more Guardians to try and assist the courts between parents.
3. Those cases that will in the future not have the assistance of legal representation are also likely to result in more professionals involved in cases e.g. Social workers - being called to give evidence as it will be less likely the parents (for very obvious and natural reasons) will be able to do without their evidence as they feel they will have to explore every issue so they do not feel disadvantaged - not necessarily upon what the key issues in case may be.
I'm sure there are many more.....
1. Neither side would be eligible for Legal Aid in the case yet equally neither would have been able to afford any kind of expert assessment which happened to be vital in this case to help understand the needs of the child. What does the court do in those circumstances?
2. A way around for the problem above is for the court to appoint more Guardians under R16.4 and for the experts to be paid for on the legal aid certificate of the child - thus just transferring costs not saving them and meaning the appointment of more Guardians to try and assist the courts between parents.
3. Those cases that will in the future not have the assistance of legal representation are also likely to result in more professionals involved in cases e.g. Social workers - being called to give evidence as it will be less likely the parents (for very obvious and natural reasons) will be able to do without their evidence as they feel they will have to explore every issue so they do not feel disadvantaged - not necessarily upon what the key issues in case may be.
I'm sure there are many more.....
No comments:
Post a Comment