Law Weblog

“Happy Birthday Legal Aid”

Thursday 30 July 2009 at 9:39 am | In News | Post Comment Legal Aid will be 60 years old at 11.47am today, the moment the Legal Aid and Advice Act was created in 1949.

Legal Aid was part of the post war welfare reforms and until that date, access to justice for most people depended on charity, self-help and pro-bono lawyers.

Today, legal aid helps more than 2 million people each year and costs £2 billion.

The scheme is run by the Legal Services Commission (LSC), and is the best-funded state legal system in the world: the Government spends £38 per head of population on legal aid.

Legal aid provides legal advice, help and representation through solicitors, brristers and advice agency advisers. It includes advice at a police station on arrest, settling a childcare dispute, help and with debt.

* Over quarter of a million people involved in family disputes,
* Around 125,000 people with housing problems,
* Over 90,000 people struggling with debt,
* Around 18,000 people suffering domestic abuse, and,
* Over 90,000 people seeking the welfare benefits which they are entitled to.