Rebecca Tarn, leading female lawyer with Major Family Law, the North East’s Divorce and Children’s specialists comments the Government restrictions imposed on victims of domestic abuse, which often impacted their access to legal aid, have been revised.
Under the current system, victims of domestic abuse are required to provide evidence that the abuse had occurred within the last 2 years, to qualify for legal aid. On occasion, by the time a case reached a final hearing the evidence of the abuse would be considered out of date and victims would lose their legal aid funding.
The Law Society’s calls for reform of the overly stringent Government requirements have now been accepted as necessary, meaning victims of domestic abuse will no longer risk losing their legal aid mid-case or the support they need to achieve justice.