The means test does not take account of economic abuse, faced by 95% of victim-survivors, and therefore calculates income and capital inaccurately, resulting in rejection of legal aid. For example, they may be denied legal aid because they jointly own the family home or have ‘trapped capital’ in jointly held assets they cannot access due to their partner’s controlling behaviour, according to charity Surviving Economic Abuse (SEA).
SEA founder and CEO Dr Nicola Sharp-Jeffs said: ‘Domestic abuse almost always involves the abuser controlling access to income and assets, so the normal tests of income and capital just do not work. The only way to solve this is to exempt survivors of domestic abuse from the legal aid means test.’
According to a SEA report published this week, ‘Denied justice: how the legal aid means test prevents victims of domestic abuse from accessing justice and rebuilding their lives’, 80% of victims were unable to access legal aid and at least a quarter of cases involved ‘trapped capital’.
In many cases, women struggling to put food on the table for their children were deemed too high-income to access legal aid, and some who were granted legal aid were unable to accept it because they couldn’t afford the monthly contributions.
Without legal aid, survivors are forced to represent themselves in court, with 15% of the respondents losing their job as a result.
Nicole Jacobs, Domestic Abuse Commissioner for England and Wales, said: ‘Lack of financial means should not be a barrier to legal support for victims and survivors of domestic abuse.
‘However, as this report highlights, it is the harsh reality being faced by far too many domestic abuse victims. Improving the experience of victims and survivors of domestic abuse in the Family Court is a priority for my office and I believe the provision of non-means tested legal aid for these individuals is a crucial way of making the Family Court more accessible.’
One woman received death and child abduction threats when she separated from her abusive spouse and issued divorce proceedings. She applied for a non-molestation order but was told she was not eligible for legal aid because she jointly owned her home. She had to represent herself in court, and paid £4,000 in court and solicitor fees as she instructed a solicitor to draw up paperwork. The abusive partner breached the order, refusing to comply or separate the marital property. She paid £60 for each 30-minute appointment with a solicitor for help with filling in applications, which she couldn’t afford as she couldn’t take on more than 16 hours a week of work.
Read the report here.
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