Government seeks views on legal aid for inquests
Bereaved families and legal professionals are being asked to share their experience of inquests as part of a Government review into the provision of legal aid.
- Call for evidence on legal aid provision for inquests
- Bereaved families and lawyers urged to share experiences
- Ongoing review to determine need for legal representation
Justice Minister Lucy Frazer today announced the launch of a call for evidence to consider the need for legal representation during inquests.
This is part of an ongoing review, which aims to establish whether changes need to be made to the current availability of legal aid to ensure bereaved families can fully understand and take part in inquests.
It will also consider how the system could be made more sympathetic to the needs of the bereaved, and the Government is keen to hear from all who have been affected by the inquest process.
Justice Minister Lucy Frazer said:
The inquest process can be extremely difficult and the Government is committed to ensuring that bereaved families can access the support they need.
That is why we are opening a call for evidence, to help determine whether changes need to be made to the availability of legal aid for these cases.
We would encourage anyone who has been affected by the inquest process to share their experiences.
Today’s call for evidence forms part of the evidence gathering stage of the review and builds on the department’s recent work to make legal aid easier to obtain for death in custody cases.
The call for evidence will close on 31st August and the Government is seeking views from anyone who is involved or has been affected by the inquest process, including bereaved families and those who provide support to them at inquests, legal representatives and coroners.
This review will sit alongside the Post Implementation Review of the reforms made under LASPO and will report back later this year.
Notes to editors
- The link to the call for evidence is available here: https://consult.justice.gov.uk/digital-communications/review-of-legal-aid-for-inquests
- The Government is looking to hear from anyone who has been affected by the inquest process.
- This could include bereaved families, representatives of bereaved families, solicitors, barristers, volunteers or coroners amongst others.
- More information about changes to the Lord Chancellor’s Exceptional Case Funding guidance for death in custody cases is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/changes-to-the-lord-chancellors-exceptional-funding-guidance-for-inquests