Legal Update: Court Report - Challenge to legal aid residence test

Case name R (Public Law Project) v Lord Chancellor [2015]
Case ID UKSC 2015/0255
Judges Lord Neuberger, Lady Hale, Lord Mance, Lord Reed, Lord Carnwath, Lord Hughes, Lord Toulson
Location Supreme Court

Although the court has not yet released its full judgment, this case, which was expedited on public interest grounds, has been widely reported.

This was a challenge to the residence test for legal aid, which would have restricted access to legal aid to those who could prove they were lawfully resident and had spent at least one year in the UK as a lawful resident at any time.

It was widely condemned as discriminatory and unworkable, as British citizens unable to prove their entitlement would be unable to access legal aid. It would also have placed a significant logistical burden on legal aid lawyers to provide evidence about every client’s immigration status and past residence.

The Public Law Project appealed to the Supreme Court on two grounds: first, that the Lord Chancellor did not have a power to restrict categories of people who were eligible for legal aid using regulations, and second, that the residence test was discriminatory and there could be no justification for this.

The Supreme Court halted the hearing after arguments on ground one, and granted the appeal.

However, this leaves it open to the Lord Chancellor to impose a residence test through primary legislation which would be debated in parliament. The Ministry of Justice has not yet confirmed whether it will seek to do so.

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