Filling the gaps left by the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012: The role of charities in cases of domestic violence

Annual reports from Women's Aid have shown the multifaceted roles that domestic violence (DV) charities provide for women across England and Wales. Their front-line role with victims means that these charities have specialised, sensitive and appropriate knowledge of the subjective experiences of their clients. Against the backdrop of austerity cuts to essential services, DV charities have reported the increasing complexity to their caseload and the issues that service users are reporting. One of the most significant cuts to services has been the narrowing of the financial eligibility criteria for access to legal representation under the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO). There has been widespread research on the disproportionate experiences of victims and survivors of domestic violence after the legal aid cuts, however, there has been little attention to the extent that this has led to the increased complexity of charity's caseload.

This PhD will investigate the extent of which the LASPO has shaped the services that domestic violence charities provide. Specific attention will be drawn to the increase in non-molestation order (NMOs) applications made without the help of legal aid. With limited access to legal representation, one of the only options available for victims of DV is to acquire a behavioural civil order to protect themselves. Despite concerns that changes to legal aid would lead to a downturn in granted orders, NMOs in particular have been increasing in an upward trend since 2013. This can be explained by the fact that NMOs can be applied for without the help of a solicitor. If legal aid is not available, an NMO can be an appealing option, as the applicant can protect themselves from any interaction with the perpetrator.

An illustrative case in this area is R (on the application of G.R.) v the Director of Legal Aid Casework and the Lord Chancellor [2020] where the claimant's joint interest in the family home exceeded the minimum requirement to pass the "means regulations" test for legal aid eligibility. The claimant was reported to have £28 in her bank account and was not able to obtain consent from the perpetrator to borrow money against the property to pay for legal costs. This case is not unusual or unique and demonstrates ways in which options to access civil representation can be limited for victims of domestic violence. Although GR was unable to access legal representation through legal aid, she was able to obtain a NMO with the assistance of an IDVA and a specialist solicitor employed by the domestic violence charity Rights of Women to provide a late witness statement. This gives an insight into the growing divergence between NMOs granted with the help of legal aid, and those without. Furthermore, this shows the team and community of specialist and essential support that domestic violence services provide when mainstream services fail. It is important therefore, to investigate further the extent of which the LASPO has impacted charities who are filling the gaps left by the legal aid cuts.

Using semi-structured interviews this PhD will investigate the ways in which Independent Domestic Violence Advocates (IDVAs) and Violence against Women Coordinators (VAWG-Cs) are supporting women's access to NMOs, and whether there are any other legal roles that DV charities are performing as a result of the LASPO. Alongside the semi-structured interviews, I will also be conducting focus groups with clients of domestic violence charities in order to understand how the role of the charity is perceived when legal aid is not available. As this is an under-researched area of the effects of the LASPO, the rich, detailed, and unanticipated accounts of service provider's and service user's experiences will be central to this research.