Have you been affected by legal aid cuts?

A project investigating the effect of 2013’s legal aid cuts is on the lookout for personal stories which highlight the human element of its research.

Justice in a time of austerity is a collaboration between Dr Daniel Newman of the School of Law and Politics and Jon Robins of the Justice Gap, an online magazine about law and justice which is aimed at the public.

Their project, which is supported by City law firm Ashurst, will take place over the next 12 months and looks into the significant changes to civil legal aid in England and Wales which came into effect on 1 April 2013.

The changes were part of a plan to reform the system and save the government over £300m a year but, as a result, many types of legal cases which include clinical negligence, child contact, divorce and employment are no longer eligible for money from the public purse.

This had a significant impact on many groups of people and individuals and indeed the type of cases that were pursued through the civil justice system.

Newman and Robins research looks at whether these restrictions affect the fairness of the justice system by asking, 'how are people who use the justice system impacted by legal aid cuts?'

To help them answer that question they plan to conduct a series of interviews around the country both with individuals impacted by the cuts and the organisations who are now leaned upon for free support.

If you have a story to tell about your experiences of the civil justice system, please contact Dr Daniel Newman. To find out more about the project please visit the Justice Gap website.