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When exceptional is the rule: mental health, family problems and the reform of legal aid in England and Wales
- Authors:
- MILES Jo, BALMER Nigel J., SMITH Marisol
- Journal article citation:
- Child and Family Law Quarterly, 24(3), 2012, pp.320-332.
- Publisher:
- Jordan Publishing
The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 will from April 2013 remove legal aid from many areas of private family law (including child contact and residence, and financial orders) except where there is acceptable evidence of domestic violence or child abuse. However, exceptional funding will be made available on a case by case basis where it is determined that the provision of legal aid is necessary to avoid a breach, or the risk of a breach, of the person’s right under the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms 1950 (ECHR). The ECHR protects a right to legal aid in civil proceedings where necessary to ensure ‘practical and effective’ access to court. Individuals with mental health problems may be unable to represent themselves satisfactorily and therefore be in need of legal representation. This article examines data from the 2006-2009 Civil and Social Justice Survey (CSJS) which explored the prevalence of mental health problems amongst adults with legal problems. For this study, data was considered for family problems likely to be affected by the proposed legal aid reforms. The finding suggest that, far from being exceptional, mental problems feature in a substantial minority of family disputes, raising the potential for a somewhat higher proportion of family disputants to seek exceptional funding on this basis than anticipated by government.
The legal problems and mental health needs of youth advice service users: the case for advice
- Authors:
- BALMER Nigel J., PLEASENCE Pascoe
- Publisher:
- Youth Access
- Publication year:
- 2012
- Pagination:
- 45p.
- Place of publication:
- London
Youth Access commissioned this survey of clients of youth advice agencies to investigate the social welfare related legal problems faced by these clients and to measure their mental well-being. The report describes the background and study methodology, and presents the results. 188 young people with social welfare problems were surveyed in youth advice settings across 16 sites throughout England and Wales in May and June 2012. A questionnaire was used to collect information about the nature of problems, the type of help the young people were seeking, the consequences of the problems on their lives, and whether they felt the advice had led to improvements. The survey included screening for common mental illnesses. The report includes a profile of young people in youth advice settings, and presents the findings about the mental health of young people in youth advice settings, the impact of problems on young people's lives, what clients were seeking and their expectations of advice, improvements with advice, and the cost effectiveness of advice. The results indicated high levels of mental illness among young people attending for social welfare advice.