SECURING EQUALITY RIGHTS AND ACCESS TO JUSTICE

Despite numerous access to justice studies conducted since the 1990's, there is limited empirical data that treats Wales as a separate entity from England. This is because the traditional paradigm for access to justice research treats England and Wales as synonymous, due to their shared legal system. In undertaking this assumption, research ignores the demographic and legislative framework that is unique to Wales. This exposes many access to justice studies to questions over their validity and creates an evidence gap for reliable data on accessibility in Wales. The lack of empirical evidence was highlighted in the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).
The need for a separate focus between England and Wales is becoming increasingly prevalent. Wales has a distinct demography: economic and demographic studies have highlighted that inequalities in Wales differ from England. When these studies were combined with the legal market studies in England and Wales , it revealed that a substantial portion of the population in Wales are vulnerable to multiple legal problems. Additionally, those living with a disability or living in poverty in Wales face additional legal disadvantages than their English counterparts. This is a significant finding for Wales as one in five of its population have a disability and one in five live in poverty. The underlying causal mechanisms that create the additional burdens in Wales remain unknown due to the limitation of the Paths to Justice research design and quantitative methods in general. Therefore, further research using different methodologies need to be deployed to uncover the mechanisms that are creating an in balance between accessibility in England and Wales. It is for these reasons that this thesis will focus its methods section upon the experiences of those living with a disability in Wales in an attempt to capture the underlying mechanisms that are negatively affecting disabled people in Wales.
The high proportion of vulnerable groups in Wales also means that the country could be disproportionally affected by the austerity measures brought in by the 2010 Conservative and Liberal Democrat Coalition Government. The high proportion of disabled people in Wales and those living in poverty increases reliance upon the welfare system which has been reformed under the austerity measures. The high reliance rates on the welfare system coupled with reforms and cuts increases the risk of legal problems.
Simultaneously, the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment Order (LASPO) Act 2012 curtails legal aid available to these vulnerable groups. This places additional burdens upon the free legal advice sector in Wales who are required to absorb the downstream effects of LASPO. The increase in demand post-LASPO coincides with a decrease in supply as the number of free advice centres and face-to-face advice sessions drastically fell. Face-to-face sessions were predicted to fall from 19,841 to 3,144 in the year succeeding LASPO.
Aside from demographics, Wales also has a different legislative framework that can impact equality levels in Wales. By using their devolved powers, the Welsh Assembly has enacted measures that create a 'unique Equality Agenda' in Wales that differs from the rest of the UK. The Equality Act 2010's obligations on public bodies have been extended in Wales and has helped set global precedents in the protection of vulnerable groups, guided by the principle that there should be 'equal opportunity for all'.
These factors raise questions upon the reliability and validity of any access to justice evidence that rely upon the assumption that Wales is synonymous with England. This creates an evidence gap for policymakers and stakeholders in Wales. Studies that have begun to emerge on the differences between Wales and England are in their infancy, but all point to differences between the two countries. This increases the unreliability of the traditional research paradigm.