[[link removed]]Dear John,

Everyone should be entitled to their day in court, not just the rich and
powerful. But an oversight in new ‘legal aid’ regulations is keeping some of the
most marginalised people locked out, denying them a chance of justice.

Legal aid is money made available for people who can’t afford lawyers’ fees.
During the pandemic, changes were made to legal aid fees for asylum and
immigration appeals without consultation or impact assessments.

The unintended consequence is that it’s now harder for lawyers to get paid,
meaning they can’t afford to take on complex cases like modern slavery and
trafficking, leaving those seeking safety in the UK little hope of success.

Email your MP today, calling on them to strike down the regulations so the
Government can rethink them to avoid this outcome.

EMAIL YOUR MP →
[[link removed]]The new regulations have almost tripled the legal aid fee – that’s the amount
the State will pay a lawyer – for asylum and immigration cases, which sounds
like a good thing.

But lawyers doing this work can only charge for actual time spent on the case
where their work exceeds three times the value of the legal aid fee. So the
amount of work they have to do to get paid properly has also almost tripled,
actually making it more difficult for them to get paid and keep their firms
alive.

This means they will be unlikely to take on more time-consuming appeals for
people with complicated vulnerabilities – like trafficking victims and LGBT+
asylum seekers – because of the risk they won’t get paid, putting them in
jeopardy too.

And an appeal is usually a person’s last chance to stay in the country.

So regulations meant to make the system more sustainable have had the unintended
effect of blocking people’s access to justice, which could also put their lives
at risk.

The regulations must be suspended so proper consultation can take place to avoid
these consequences.

Please email your MP today
[[link removed]] – it takes just a couple of minutes.

Thank you for your support.





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